Darkness Awaits
by Hattie1997
Summary: Hermione and Luke met on a park bench when she was eleven and he twelve. They didn't see each other again until she was sixteen, and he seventeen. But he has made some choices. Choices that may have dire consequences. Can she set him right again, or will it be too late? But an enemy is trying to destroy what little hope they have. What if he succeeds? Read and review. - Complete.
1. Prologue: I'm A Witch?

Authors Note: I am well aware that Hermione is an only child and, in that case, has no brother who is a Wizard but for the sake of this story, let's just say that she does.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything, wish I did though.

**Prologue: I'm A Witch?**

Hermione:

A girl only turns eleven once, right? It's a special day, a day that marks the turn into what we like to think of as adulthood when really we're only in year six and definitely still children. Well, I say most girls eleventh birthdays are special, mine was downright amazing.

I awoke at precisely 6:00 to find my parents at the foot of my bed, smiling proudly at their middle child. From the noise coming from down the stairs, it was safe to assume that my siblings were already up and waiting none-too-patiently for my arrival. They didn't say anything but left me to change in peace before I made my way down the stairs.

They were, as expected, all waiting for me. On our one and only sofa my eldest sibling, Michael, sat, a book propped on his lap and his glasses pushed up his nose. Beside him sat my sister, Savanna, her blond hair that was so much like our fathers scraped into a messy ponytail at the nape of her neck. On her lap sat four year old Will, his pudgy face pulled into a pout as he was forced to wait. Last but not least and sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, a look of utter concentration on his face, sat fourteen-year-old Jason, his wand on his lap. Jason was a Wizard; he went to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry even though he was what they called a muggle-born. He seemed to love it there, even though none of his siblings had the magic to go.

"Honey," mum began, holding out an intricately wrapped gift with a sky-blue bow tied on top. It was small but, as mother always loved to say, _the best things come in small packages. _Giving her a small smile I took it and tugged the wrapping off, shaking my head, the smile still there, as I saw the plain black box that nestled in my palm. I opened this and gasped at what I saw. Lying innocently in the black silk was the prettiest necklace I had ever seen. It was plain silver but in the middle there was the faintest drop of sapphire. All in all, it was beautiful. I said as much and received a small laugh from mum but only a tight-lipped smile from dad. It was clear that the jewellery was mum's idea. If up to him, I would have received a book.

Michael pulled himself from his book just long enough to give me an unwrapped gift of, surprise, surprise, a book. It was called Wuthering Heights and from the disapproving look from my mother, she deemed it either too old or inappropriate for my eyes. I had to roll them at that, I had already read Jane Eyre and Northanger Abbey but had always wanted to read that.

Savanna had given me a simple but stunning blue scarf, while Will had drawn me a picture of the family in his childish way. Jason, however, refused to relinquish his gift until later. It seemed like he was waiting for something – or someone – but didn't want to tell us yet.

Almost half an hour later, as we were eating breakfast, there came a knock at the door. Jase jolted up, smirking at us, before he stumbled into the living room and conversed with someone in quiet whispers. When he came back in, he was grinning and muttering, "I knew it, I just knew it," over and over under his breath.

I recognised the long white beard and twinkling blue eyes of the headmaster of his school, Albus Dumbledore. Today he was dressed in long, flowing, lilac robes, but there was no sign of the smile that usually adorned his face. Instead, he looked unnaturally grave.

"Albus," mum greeted immediately, offering his a cup of coffee, which he took thankfully.

"This has never happened before," he began once finishing his beverage, "But, as your son seemed to realise years ago, your youngest daughter, Miss Hermione Jean Granger, is a Witch. We have never had two children from the same muggle family before so you can see why I was dubious." Finally I saw the familiar grin stretch the corners of his mouth as he turned to me, "As your brother is already at Hogwarts, I believe you know everything there is to know about the school. Whenever is most convenient to you, I will take you to Diagon Alley and get you your school things. Here is a list." He gave it to me and proceeded to talk to mum and dad, doing weird impressions with his hands as he did so. Jase was still smiling wickedly and I turned an accusatory glare on him, "You knew?"

"I had to keep it a secret 'Mione," He whined immediately and I laughed, suddenly inexplicably happy. I was a Witch. As if my laugh had brought him back to focus, he muttered something and I followed him into the living room, where he gave me his gift. Upon opening it, I saw a really thick book titled _Hogwarts: A History. _Underneath that he had bought me my first spell book, _the Standard Book of Spells: Grade one._

Best. Birthday. Ever.

**XxX**

It turned out to be exactly a week later that the headmaster returned to take me to Diagon Alley; it seemed that he didn't trust Jase and, from what I gathered when he came home for the holidays, I wouldn't have either.

It was early, about six o'clock, but I was already ready and as he was there, we decided to leave early after it had been established that I would meet Jase at one for an ice-cream.

"Diagon Alley is situated in London," Dumbledore explained as we walked, "There is a pub called _The Leaky Cauldron. _It is through the back." It seemed that this pub wasn't far from where I lived and we were there within five minutes.

It was a shambles but that didn't seem to matter because none of the muggles could see it. The black paint on the door was flaking and the sign above it creaked eerily if so much as a tiny breeze blew past. The inside was only marginally better. A rickety staircase led up to the rooms above and the pub itself had dust on every table and many of the chairs had broken legs. Dumbledore, however, ignored all of this, only offering a slight nod to the bartender, Tom, as we passed through to the back.

The back had nothing to it. Brick walls blocked us in on every side and atop one lay a sleek, black cat. I looked around, wondering how we were getting to Diagon Alley. The headmaster seemed unfazed, and tapped his walking stick against the stones on the wall with the cat. To my immense surprise an archway formed and we stepped through.

Diagon Alley was a long, narrow street, with shops like _The Apothecary _and _Ollivanders: Wands for every occasion. _All in all, it looked much the same as a muggle street except that all of the shops sold things for Witches and Wizards, and everyone was wearing robes.

A tall Witch barged past me, her fly-away grey hair pinned down under a bright pink, pointed hat. Before I could say anything I was dragged further along, where the most magnificent building I had ever set my eyes on appeared.

It was tall like a block of apartments, and completely cylindrical, with a large dome on top to complete the structure. Across the front, in glittering black print, was the words _Gringotts._

"The Wizarding Bank," Dumbledore said by way of explanation and led me to the front door. Upon entering I saw rows of what I could only presume were goblins working hard at desks raised up so that the goblins had to peer down at the customers. I was led to the row at the end where an extremely wizened goblin had me sign some forms so that I could get a personal vault and change some of my muggle money into galleons.

With pockets jingling full of gold, we made our way to Ollivanders to get me a wand. Mr Ollivander was an ancient man wearing robes that seemed just as old as him but he seemed friendly enough, and gave Dumbledore the biggest smile I had ever seen on a man before.

"You are, my dear?"

"Hermione," I murmured, feeling cowed under the gaze of Ollivander, "Hermione Granger."

"Try this one. It has a dragon scale core, is ebony wood and is 9 ¼ inches."

I waved it but a vase behind the desk burst.

"No, no."

He stopped and stared at me as if seeing me for the first time after a long time, before a small smile curled the corners of his thin lips. He shared a glance with Dumbledore, and nodded as if to himself, before he disappeared again. A couple of minutes later he was back, another wand in his hand.

"Vine wood, dragon heartstring, 10 ¾ inches. It is incredibly rare, even more so than the Phoenix tail feather. Purchasing the heartstring of a dragon is a very tricky and costly experience which is why most do not pursue it. I do not know of any wands in existence with this core."

I stared at it for a moment before gripping it hard with my right hand, watching as it lit up merrily. I finally had a wand.

**XxX**

It's not every day you find out that you are a Witch but, for obvious reasons, you can't tell the muggles. That was why, when I went over to my'friends' house later on, I couldn't mention of the newest discovery.

Dudley Dursley wasn't really anyone's friend, but he had his own little gaggle of followers who were too scared to do anything else and, while I was not scared of him, I still accepted his invitation to dine at his house with his parents and orphaned cousin.

Harry was a nice kid, bespectacled, had jet-black hair and a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. For obvious reasons no-one was friends with him, but that didn't stop them from feeling sorry for him and I always spoke to him as nicely as I could.

Anyone who knew me in later life would wonder why I – of all people – received an invitation to the Dursleys, and I couldn't blame them. In actual fact I couldn't tell you why I received this invitation, only that I did. I couldn't tell you if Dudley actually liked me, or was just doing it to show off to his mates – I suspected the latter – but I was still going.

I hesitated outside their front door for a moment before quickly knocking and entering once Petunia had opened it. The Dursleys were all seated in the living room; all had disapproving frowns on their faces as they glared openly at poor Harry. I smiled at him before taking a seat.

"How are you my dear?" Petunia asked, "I trust you and your family are well?"

"Very," I replied nervously, giving her a tight-lipped smile before Dudley dragged me up to his bedroom. I was already feeling sceptical about this invitation but decided to say nothing as I was deposited, none-too-gently, on the bed.

"I have a bet," Dudley began, "That I can get you to kiss me."

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. I mean, I was only eleven, he was ten. That didn't seem to deter him, however, as he roughly pushed me back onto the bed and crushed his lips to mine. I let out a tiny whimper of pain, attempting to push his massive bulk off me, but to no avail.

"Maybe we could go further," he whispered huskily in my ear but just at that moment, to my immense relief, Harry entered the room to announce dinner. Dudley hauled himself off and waddled out, leaving me alone with Harry.

"Are you okay?" He hesitantly made his way to my side as if scared that I would push him away. Instead of replying, I shook my head emphatically.

"Have dinner and then go straight home, Dudley's a pig," he snapped, gently pulling me up and watching me for a moment in silence. I nodded once, giving him a watery grin, before following him down the stairs to an uneventful meal.

**XxX**

Luke:

I've known I was a demi-god for years – since I was six actually and heard my mum talking about it to her mirror. I know that most people think that people who talk to mirrors are generally insane but – hey – I was only six so give a guy a break.

It was barely a week after that when I entered the kitchen to see mum sitting at the table with a strange guy. He looked like a statue, all stiff and poised, but he had wild, curly hair and the weirdest stick I had ever seen. It had two snakes curled around the top which I could have sworn were talking to each other. In his hand he held an I-phone but he was staring at my mum – or more widely known as May Castellan.

"May," he was saying, his eyebrows furrowed nervously, "You cannot. If it does not kill you, then it will send you insane and who will look after Luke when that happens?"

"You," was all my May said, tipping some brandy into her mouth and wiping her mouth. The other guy – I later learned that this was none other than Hermes himself – looked briefly troubled as he replied, "I have my job on Olympus."

As first I thought he was crazy. I mean, even from a young age May had told me about the Greek legends and that's all they were: legends. Neither had noticed me so I listened for a little longer.

"It will be interesting to see if the Oracle still has the curse on her," she replied, nodding drunkenly at the man I knew to be my father, "If she does then so be it."

It was at this moment that Hermes had to look up and see me. He smiled but it seemed slightly strained and didn't fool anyone. Before he left, he turned back to mum and said, "Fine, we can try, but it will not work."

"That's all I ask."

That was the last thing she ever said while still sane. After I was tucked into bed that night she crept out and tried to become the Oracle – whatever that was – and when she came back, she was most definitely not sane. Yes, I stayed with her, but only because I had nowhere else to go, no living family that I knew of beside my God of a father.

I grew up before my time and that was why, six years later, I found myself taking the slow, deliberate steps to the park where I could think about all that had transpired since May had become – or failed to become – the Oracle.

Unfortunately, however, my usual bench already had a girl sitting on it. From where I stood I could see frizzy brown hair that flowed down her back and she was wearing a plain white summer dress even though it was September. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she was sobbing horrifically.

I could only stare at her in shock, upset to see someone so clearly heartbroken. After a few minutes, she seemed to sense my presence and raised her eyes to mine; quickly brushing away the tears, but more kept flowing. She had beautiful eyes of a soft, honey colour and her cheeks were flushed.

"What's wrong?"

She just shook her head, unwilling to talk about it, but I was known to be curious for no reason and genuinely wanted to help her.

"Please."

That was all I had to say. She raised her eyes to mine, smiling weakly and I returned it before listening as she said, "You've heard of Dudley Dursley, right?"

"He's a year younger than me," I agreed, nodding.

"He's the same age and me a…and I we…went over t…to his earlier…"

That was all she had to say, and all she could say because more tears were replacing the first. I didn't say anything but sat beside her and put my arm around her back. Eventually I did speak, "Ignore him. You're only eleven – right? – you have your whole life ahead of you, don't waste it on Dudley Dursley."

She caught my eye and let out a weak chuckle before nodding, "Thanks."

"No problem. Now, will you tell me your name?"

"I'm Hermione Granger."

"Luke Castellan," I greeted, holding out my hand for her to take, which she did with a slight smile.

"I live in number eight Privet Drive, near to Dudley's."

"Let's not talk about him. Come on, it's early and I'm hungry, let's go get an ice-cream."

"You get ice-cream when you're hungry?" she asked incredulously but she still took my hand and stood up, grinning tearfully at me. I gently removed a stray tear and put my arm around her shoulder again, hugging her to me.

Sometimes it sucked to be twelve.


	2. 5 years later

**5 years later**

Hermione:

"_What's wrong?"_

_I just shook my head, unwilling to talk about it, and tried to avoid his gaze._

"_Please."_

_That was all he had to say. I raised my eyes to his, smiling weakly and je returned it before listening as I said, "You've heard of Dudley Dursley, right?"_

"_He's a year younger than me," he agreed, nodding._

"_He's the same age and me a…and I we…went over t…to his earlier…"_

_That was all I had to say, and all I could say because more tears were replacing the first. He didn't say anything but sat beside me and put his arm around my back. Eventually he did speak, "Ignore him. You're only eleven – right? – you have your whole life ahead of you, don't waste it on Dudley Dursley."_

_I caught his eye and let out a weak chuckle before nodding, "Thanks."_

"_No problem. Now, will you tell me your name?"_

"_I'm Hermione Granger."_

"_Luke Castellan," He greeted, holding out his hand for me to take, which I did with a slight smile._

"_I live in number eight Privet Drive, near to Dudley's."_

"_Let's not talk about him. Come on, it's early and I'm hungry, let's go get an ice-cream."_

"_You get ice-cream when you're hungry?" I asked incredulously but still took his hand and stood up, grinning tearfully at him. He gently removed a stray tear and put his arm around my shoulder again, hugging me to him._

"'Mione?"

The voice jolted me awake and I sat up straight. It was the first time I had thought of that day in years. It was the day I met Luke Castellan, and it was a day I knew would stay in my mind forever, even if I never saw him again, which was likely and I hadn't seen him since then. I left for Hogwarts and he disappeared two years after – when I was thirteen and he fourteen.

The voice belonged to Ginny, who was seated at the foot of my bed, an amused smile on her face, "We have ten minutes before lessons."

"Fu…dge" I was about to swear under my breath but changed my mind at the last moment, "Fudge."

Gin laughed and shook her head, "Still don't swear, huh?"

I puffed myself up importantly, "Swearing is for the feeble minded who can think of nothing better to say."

"Remind me of that when I'm next talking to Ron, will you?" She teased, relishing in the slight blush that tinted my cheeks at the mention of his name. She just rolled her eyes and reminded me, "Ten minutes."

True to my word, exactly 8.5 minutes later I was standing outside the Transfiguration classroom with Harry and Ron, both of whom were laughing at the fact that the renowned Bookworm had almost been late to class. I pretended to ignore them as I took my seat at the front, a certain blond-haired boy still in my head.

"Now," Professor McGonagall began when she finally entered, "Everyone is to make their way to the Hall."

I – along with everyone else – sighed in annoyance, packed my things away and went to the Great Hall, where I took a seat beside Gin, who was supposed to have Charms. Once the last person was seated, Dumbledore rose and smiled at all of us in turn before he spoke, "This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I do not believe that becoming a skilled Witch or Wizard is all about what you learn in lessons, and that is why, starting tomorrow, We are starting an assignment. You will choose a group of four – from any year – and work on this assignment until January. In January we are going to choose a winning group from each house and these sixteen are going to have a trip outside of school. I am not to tell you where you will be going, only that I know it will be enjoyable. You get to choose what you want to work on, and must record everything you do relating to this. I wish you all the best of luck."

"Why didn't McGonagall just tell us this in class?" I asked as Harry, Ron, Ginny and I left the Great Hall, "Because we have to go back to McGonagall's lesson anyway."

"Then Dumbledore wouldn't be able to announce it, and we all know how much he loved doing that," was Ron's reply and I laughed daintily, all thoughts of Luke driven from my mind.

"We're working as a four?" Gin asked nervously, as though scared we would ditch her. I grinned, "Course." And my two male best friends nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I have to go to Professor Flitwick's," she murmured glumly as we arrived outside the Transfiguration classroom.

"Remember, you already have a group," Harry shouted at her back as she sashayed away. He remained staring after her, a small smile on his face. It was clear that he was besotted.

"Is anyone already in a group?" Professor McGonagall asked once we were all seated. Before I could do or say anything, Lavender's hand shot into the air and she announced, "Parvati and I are going with Seamus and Dean."

"Good. Anyone else?"

"We're with Ginny," Harry said, indicating the three of us and the Professor nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face.

**XxX**

"What should we do?"

We were situated in the common room; lessons finished for the day. Harry and Ron had stolen the two best seats next to fire, opposite each other, leaving Gin and me to take the two next to theirs.

No-one spoke for a moment, everyone deep in thought, but nothing came to me. I was Hermione Granger, Brightest Witch of the Age, but I couldn't think of anything. There was nothing to distract me from thinking about Luke, and that was what I found myself doing. I was supposed to be thinking of our plan, but all I could think of was Luke Castellan and what became of him after we had parted ways.

"Hermione?" Ginny's voice broke into my thoughts and I whipped my head up to stare at them, "What do you think?"

"About what?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and Gin rolled her eyes but I was still clueless.

"Did you listen to a word I just said?"

"Sorry," I mumbled, waiting for her to continue.

"I was thinking that our project – assignment, whatever you want to call it – could be on the DA. I mean, everyone knows about it and it would be very interesting."

"I think it's a great idea," I intoned, my gaze on the flickering fire, my thoughts – surprisingly – of Sirius Black. I remembered his face in the fire, talking to us like he hadn't a care in the world when, in reality, he was the most wanted criminal of all time.

"Are you tired?" Gin asked, again successfully pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah," I muttered, yawning for good measure, "I'm gonna head up. I'll see you tomorrow, we can discuss details then."

Again they exchanged glances, "Tomorrow's the first Hogsmede visit of the year, I don't particularly want to do work."

"Of course it is."

**XxX**

Luke:

"It's been a long time," a voice rasped from the back corner of the room, hidden in shadows.

I was in a long, almost-pitch black room with sputtering candles in brackets along the walls. The floor was made of polished, plain, black marble – and the walls were much the same. The only entrance or exit was the one through which I had just entered, but that was barred from the outside and would only open if I was given permission to leave by the General.

The General preferred to stay in the darkness, conducting his business from there, and I couldn't blame him. Ever since I was twelve and had stolen Zeus' lightning bolt in an attempt to get it to Hades, Camp Half-Blood had been especially careful and wary. Anything that looked vaguely suspicious was looked into.

I had only ever seen him in the light once and it wasn't a pretty sight. He was extremely pale and had red slits for eyes. He looked like a human apart from the two horns that protruded from his head, curling into a thick spiral of bone, and the black, leathery wings that came out of his back.

"Camp Half-Blood has become complacent," I began. "Since Thalia's return, they have been even more on their guard, but that was four years ago and I believe, if we time it perfectly, then we could destroy them once and for all."

"And then?"

"Then comes Mount Olympus. The prophecy states that only Gods and demi-Gods together can save it, and if the Camp is destroyed, then there will be no demi-Gods to stand against us."

"I see you have given this much thought."

I paused for a moment in surprise, eyebrows half-raised before I nodded once in confirmation and waited for him to continue.

"Before we begin, I need you to travel to a Wizarding village called Hogsmede. Within a pub called _The Three Broomsticks _you will meet with a boy of sixteen. This is Draco Malfoy and he will be a valuable ally if we can get his father – and, in turn, the Dark Lord – on our side. Leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"It shall be done."

**XxX**

My room, when I returned to it, seemed even more dank and gloomy than when I had left. The rotting floorboards groaned and creaked while the wind howled through the half-open window. The mattress seemed to have all manner of bugs in it, making it preferable to sleep on the floor if not for the freezing cold that seeped into your bones.

I sighed once, resigned to my fate, and for the first time since I was twelve I thought for a moment that maybe what I was doing was not the right thing. For the first time since I had met a charming eleven year old girl called Hermione Granger I thought that maybe, once I had left her side, if I had revealed all to Chiron and Dionysus, all would be sorted and I wouldn't be out freezing my butt off for something that I wasn't even sure I believed in anymore.

I shook those treacherous thoughts away; thinking like that would send me to an early grave. Hermione had seemed so fascinating and I couldn't help but wonder if she remembered the small twelve-year-old she had met that day. She was probably surrounded by friends – oblivious to the world of demi-Gods and magic around her.

Before I could dwell on those thoughts any longer, the decaying door was swung open. It was no-one of much importance but when all you really want to do is sleep, having a demi-God burst into your room is the last thing you want.

Ethan Rust stumbled forward, a dopey smile plastered onto his face as he swigged from the beer bottle in his hand. In reality, the bottle only held water but that was irrelevant. I rolled my eyes at his antics, prepared to slip under the covers, but he stopped pretending to be drunk and faced me, head bowed.

"What is it?"

I was being rude but at this particular moment I didn't much care.

"The General told me that when you go to Hogsmede, you are to be staying in Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry as the esteemed guest of Draco Malfoy."

I nodded once, sneering at the thought of all the Witches at the school. Without saying anything, Ethan left, flicking his long, black hair out of his eyes as he did so.

**XxX**

Hermione:

Saturday dawned bright and early, a welcome change from the business of the past weeks. It was only November and we weren't taking our OWLs or NEWTs this year but we were still swamped with work. I would have been more than happy to stay behind and do a five-foot long essay on the properties of a bezoar but it seemed that my assignment-mates wouldn't let me.

Gin was in my room at what seemed like six in the morning but in reality was eight; my other dorm mates had already left for breakfast. I levelled my best glare at her, but she returned it with a blithe smile. I gritted my teeth and changed in a baby-blue tank top and jeans. Gin nodded her approval and we made our way down.

"Finally, we were gonna send a search party up," Harry joked while Ron stuffed his face full but still managed to mutter, "Oo, ook, ice, Mine."

"Sorry," I asked in disgust, flicking a speck of half-chewed food off my top. He swallowed heavily and turned to me, blushing heavily, "I said, you look nice Mione."

"Oh!"

I blushed slightly, feeling guilty at the disgusted look that had been on my face barely moments before. From his expression, Ron had seen it and that disheartened him. Gin and Harry exchanged knowing glances, the former smirking while the latter rolled his eyes.

I took a slice of toast and started buttering it while Gin took the seat beside me, opposite Harry and Ron.

"So," Ginny began, drawing out the word like she expected to be interrupted. She wasn't disappointed.

"So what?"

"What are we going to do about our assignment? I know we have a long time but wherever they take us must be really good or they wouldn't even consider it."

"I know," Harry replied in a murmur, "But what do we do within the DA?"

"We could…" Ron began loudly, his voice raising with excitement but his sister launched herself across the table and clapped her hands over his mouth to prevent him from saying anything else. In doing so, she knocked a cup of orange juice all over Harry, who gasped more from surprise than anything. Through my giggles I quickly remedied the situation and suggested, "Let's talk about this in the Three Broomsticks at three o'clock. Gin and I have some Christmas shopping to do."

"Agreed," Harry replied, throwing a warning glance at his fellow Gryffindor idiot as he rose, waiting for us to follow him out.

We walked slightly ahead of them as we gave Filch our permission slips and made our way out of the imposing castle gates.

"Where do you need to go first?" I asked by way of conversation, not satisfied by the nod she gave me in answer. "Come on, there's got to be somewhere." Again, she shrugged, not saying anything, eyes trained on the ground.

Without thinking through my actions, I grabbed her arm and dragged her none-too-gently into a side alley, ignoring her glare of annoyance and demanding, "Spill."

"Spill what?"

"Ever since we've gotten out of Harry and Ron's listening range, you have been silent. I demand to know what's wrong."

I was scared that maybe I was being a little forthcoming, but eventually she sighed in defeat and began to speak, "I guess you know that I really like Harry, right? But to him all we can ever be is just friends." She seemed to be waiting for me to contradict her but I didn't because it was true. "I just wish he would see me as someone other than Ron's little sister and actually see me as girlfriend material."

I felt that I had to say something, "Gin, he will see you like that eventually."

I had been hoping for a watery smile or at least some indication that my words were okay. Instead, her eyes filled with tears that began to spill. She sobbed unabashedly into my arms for at least five minutes before she could brush them away with a weak grin and order that we continue with the shopping.

At exactly five to three we met up with our two friends outside The Three Broomsticks and together we entered. The pub was crowded and only one table was available at the far end. With a loud sigh, we made our way to it, only to find that the table right next to it was occupied by none other than Malfoy, his two cronies, Parkinson, Zabini, and another man who seemed vaguely familiar.

His hair was a shade of blond although much darker than Malfoy's, while his eyes were a brooding blue colour. His lips turned down slightly at the corners and he had a spattering of freckles around his nose. He was by no means perfect, but he was very good looking.

Malfoy's drawl turned my attention back to him, "It's Potty, Weasley, Weaslette and Mudblood. Watch out or we'll be contaminated."

I summoned my best glare and levelled it at him while Harry and Ron tugged their wands from their pockets.

"Don't." My voice was quiet but held authority and, reluctantly, the wands were replaced.

"Listen to Granger, she actually speaks some sense," Malfoy smirked, raising an eyebrow threateningly.

"At least we're not a slimy Ferret. How did you like Goyle's pants Malfoy?" I asked, giving him a smirk worthy of a Slytherin. Goyle's hands immediately went under the table, his face while, while Malfoy turned a delicate shade of red.

"You'll regret that, Mudblood."

**XxX**

Luke:

The Three Broomsticks was unlike any pub I had ever seen. The air practically hummed with magic and they paid _Galleons, Sickles _and _Knuts._ The drinks were weird as well; butterbeer and firewhisky were only a few of the things on offer. The pub itself was surprisingly unremarkable – from the black chairs to the beer-stained tables – but almost all of the people sitting were dressed in robes. I felt starkly out of place.

I scanned the pub for any sign of the signature blond hair, finally finding it at the back, next to an empty table. I made my way there immediately, standing almost to attention as I waited for him to acknowledge my presence. When he didn't, I cleared my throat loudly and asked, "You're Draco Malfoy?"

Finally he turned to look at me and I noticed the cold, steel-grey eyes that were regarding me solemnly, "And you are?"

His tone was rude but I shook it out of the way before replying tersely, "Luke Castellan."

At first I wasn't sure that he had known to welcome me but eventually he murmured, "This is Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle."

I nodded once to each person before taking the final seat. The conversation immediately turned dark.

"I believe that the General wants my father to join his cause, is that correct?"

"It is."

"Why?"

I regarded him in surprise, wondering how to word the answer. In the end I muttered, "We need all the men we can get in order to destroy Camp Half-Blood. Once the camp is destroyed, we set our sights on Mount Olympus. If – and when – we succeed in our quest; the General has agreed to give your father and any other Death Eaters that join us lots of land and slaves – prisoners of war."

"It sounds tempting, but how do I know your General is not lying?"

He spoke like an old man and that thought nearly made me laugh. Nearly being the key word there. I managed to choke it back and reply in as normal voice as possible, "He will be willing to take an Unbreakable Vow."

Draco opened his mouth to say more but closed it again upon seeing who had just entered the pub. The boy in the lead was most definitely Harry Potter, with his unruly, black hair and lightning shaped scar. The two people who came in after him both had flaming red hair, making it obvious that they were brother and sister. The final Witch to enter seemed so familiar. Her hair was long, curly and a shade of brown never before seen on Earth. Her eyes, when she spotted the only unoccupied table –which happened to be next to ours – were a deep honey-brown and her red lips were puckered slightly from the cold.

They approached cautiously and made to move past but a drawling voice stopped them. I listened to the hateful banter for a few moments in silence before Draco said a name – or rather, a surname – that I never thought I would hear again. _Granger. _It wasn't exactly a common name, was it? But she did look familiar. There was a chance.

As soon as they were gone, I whirled to face Draco, asking in a hurried whisper, "Who's the girl with the brown hair?"

"That's Hermione Mudblood Granger," was the scathing reply.

I frowned at him, well aware of the hateful name, but it was her. Hermione Granger; a girl I never thought I'd see again.

It had been five years but she hadn't changed that much, which was why I recognised her.

Had she recognised me?

**I know that this chapter is more Hermione-based than Luke-based**__**but I will try to remedy that in the next chapter.**


	3. The Three Broomsticks

**Author's note: I am going to include the 3****rd**** person perspective from some other people's points of view – namely Harry and Ginny. Just thought you should know. **

**I am sorry if I take ages updating. I am trying to update every couple of days but I may have to increase that to once a week because I am doing my GCSEs and I need to revise for them.**

**Also, special thanks to all my amazing reviewers. Love you guys :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson – as much as I wish I did – and no money is being made. **

**On with the story…**

**The Three Broomsticks**

Ginny:

It was dark, Ginny felt like she was at the end of a long tunnel with a bright but small light at the other end that would lead her straight to Harry. In reality she was in The Three Broomsticks enjoying the company of Hermione and Ron while silently pining for Harry.

Unburdening herself to Hermione earlier had been so hard, but it had to be done. Even if everyone believed that she would get with Harry in the end, she knew it would not happen. She was not that stupid or naïve.

She could hear Malfoy and his cronies jeering at the next table and turned her head discreetly to watch them, admiring the way the new boy's hair caught the light and looked like spun gold.

"Gin?"

Okay, so maybe she wasn't so discreet.

Ginny murmured in reply and turned to face her friends.

"I was saying that maybe we should talk about our assignment now. What were you saying at breakfast, Ron?"

"I was saying," Ron began, sounding very exasperated, "Choose a spell and try to find a cure for it. I know it will take a long time – possibly longer than we have – but I was thinking we could do the Cruciatus Curse."

"Sometimes – very rarely – you do actually say stuff that makes sense," Harry joked lightly, "But I agree. What about you Gin?"

Her heart skipped a beat at hearing her name being used by the object of her affections and it took her a moment to concentrate before she could nod slightly.

"That's sorted then," Hermione also agreed, "Where do we start?"

"What does the Cruciatus Curse do?" Harry asked the obvious question and in her haste to answer, she almost stumbled over the words, "It creates pain such as a person has never felt before."

Mione began to write it down, her hand running effectively over the parchment in front of her as she used a piece of muggle equipment Ginny believed was called a pen.

"We should ask if we can check the Cruciatus Curse victims that are in St Mungo's and write down any symptoms. I will talk to a Healer about what they have already tried and we can go from there," Mione said slowly, writing her ideas down as she did so, "I will speak with Professor Dumbledore about it when we return."

**XxX**

Hermione:

I was watching Ginny's reaction carefully. She seemed hurt but was trying to hide it and it seemed to be working on our two male friends, but not me. Not when I knew what was actually bothering her. I didn't say anything, however, and began to write down all that I could think of to do with the Cruciatus Curse. Suddenly, I had an idea.

If the curse caused unimaginable pain, then maybe the opposite – pleasure – would work in helping to return the victims to their normal state of mind. It was the best I could come up with but decided not to tell them until I knew for certain.

I quickly took my leave of the pub, making my hurried way to – where else? – the Library. Madam Pince was prowling the isles as I took a spare desk at the back, away from prying eyes. I frowned for a moment in deep concentration before standing to find a book on potion ingredients. It took me a long time but in the end I managed to compile a list of all the ingredients that could be used, and why they could be used:

Hellebore – Draught of Peace

Lovage – Confusing and befuddlement draughts

Mimbulus mimbletonia – native to Assyria, defensive mechanism boils that spew Stinksap.

Rue – help recover from being poisoned

Valerian roots – Sleeping potion

The only problem was that there probably weren't enough ingredients to create a potion and where would I know to start?

The arrival of Harry, Ron and Ginny distracted me from my thoughts and I quickly explained my plan, showing them the list I had compiled. While they were very pleased, they still wished for me to see Dumbledore about vising St Mungos. That was why I found myself standing beside the stone gargoyles that guarded the Headmasters rooms with no way of getting in.

I had been standing for what seemed like ages before anyone came past, and then it was the guy who had been speaking to Malfoy earlier. He had seemed okay at the time, but that didn't mean I wanted to engage in a conversation with him.

He waited behind me for a while until I whirled to face him, pulling my wand out and demanding, "What?"

He defensively held up his hands, smiling calmly as he stated, "You're a Witch."

That confused me even more as it was pretty obvious that I was a Witch. He must have sensed my confusion because he lowered his hands and held one out for me to take.

"I'm Luke Castellan."

Luke Castellan? Why was that name so familiar? Luke…Luke…Luke… Of course. How could I have been so stupid?

"Luke, seriously? We met when we were eleven."

"I was twelve," he correctly quietly, "But yes, in effect. I didn't recognise you at first."

I had only met him once before, but he had comforted me when I thought no-one else could – in a way that Harry hadn't been able to because I hadn't really known him at the time. Without thinking about it, I launched myself at him, tackling him into a hug. He seemed slightly surprised before he squeezed back.

I was saved from further embarrassment by the gargoyles jumping aside to reveal our headmaster, smiling serenely at us.

"Mr Castellan."

He nodded once to Luke before turning to me in surprise, "Miss Granger?"

"If you're busy I can come back later," I supplied hurriedly, half-hoping that he would say yes. Instead, he beckoned us in and Luke sat down while I spoke with Dumbledore.

"For the assignment my team were wondering if we could go to St Mungos to speak to some healers and patients."

"What for?"

"I would rather not tell you until we have succeeded."

"You may leave tomorrow, come here at seven am."

"Thank you, Professor."

I quickly took my leave, my thoughts whirling as I thought of a particular blond haired boy called Luke.

**XxX**

Luke:

"Luke Castellan, I believe you are here as a guest of Mr Malfoy's?"

"Our parents are best friends," I lied smoothly, "I have nowhere else to go."

The old man seemed to want to ask more questions but refrained and just nodded silently while I examined all of the little trinkets that littered his office.

A cage sat by his desk with a magnificent red-and-yellow bird – I believed it was a Phoenix – on top. Littering the room he had various sneakoscopes that were whirring and emitting puffs of black smoke at random intervals. There was only two doors – the one through which I had entered, and one behind the desk. The desk itself was littered with ungraded papers and suchlike things, none of which I paid much attention to. On the walls were portraits of previous headmasters, who shouted out greetings at me.

"Well, you will be much welcomed. As you are not a Wizard, you will not be required to do magic, but you may sit in on lessons."

"That would be great," was my only reply. I tried to sound enthusiastic but _doing _the lessons is bad enough, sitting in on them would just be downright boring.

"I believe Mr Malfoy has told you about our little…assignment?"

"Yes, he has."

"He has asked, and I have agreed, to allow you to work with his group as a five."

That sounded more promising and I nodded swiftly, "Thank you Professor."

As I moved silently to the door, I was called back, "One more thing. No-one here can know your real name. You are Luke Casstelen."

I raised my eyebrows at the so-obviously-me surname but decided to let it slide and quickly took my exit, wondering what we could do for our assignment. Okay, that was a lie. I wasn't wondering about what we could do, I was wondering about Hermione. If she knew some of the things I had done in the past, then she would never even look my way. I couldn't let that happen. Whatever did happen, she would not find out.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't notice a girl come and walk beside me. At first I thought that she was just a random girl but, upon closer inspection through the corner of my eye, I saw the typical curly brown hair.

"Hey," Hermione greeted, effectively snapping me from the thoughts. She _must not _find out what I had just been thinking.

"Did you wait for me?"

"Well…" She trailed off, which I took as a yes, and stopped for a moment, leaning against the wall, watching me. She didn't actually reply, however, but instead asked a question of her own. "Why are you here?"

"If I told you that, then I'd have to kill you." My voice was teasing but I hoped she wouldn't read too much into it. It was true, after all, but fortunately she just laughed it off and continued.

"Where are you staying?"

"Why all the questions?"

That brought her up short, and she began to redden, but she lightly shoved me away, muttering, "I'm just curious." She gave me a winning smile and asked, "So, where are you staying?"

"The Slytherin common room."

She shuddered slightly, after all, she was a Gryffindor, but said nothing against them, for which I was grateful. I still felt like I needed to explain it to her, however, but she spoke before I could.

"Then why are you talking to me?" Her expression had gone from embarrassed to sad in the space of a heartbeat and I was confused. It must have shown on my face because she felt the need to elaborate.

"All they ever call me is Mudblood, beaver or bookworm."

"Look," was stopped again and I put both hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at me, "I may be staying there, but I am not one of them. Understand? You are amazing, and beautiful, and clever. Never let anyone make you think differently."

She seemed slightly shocked at the vehemence in my tone but nodded mutely, the barest hint of a smile pulling through. Before I could say anything else, she launched herself at me and pressed her face deep into my neck, hugging me. I was so shocked for a moment that all I could do was stand there, but when I felt her retract, an expression of disappointment on her face, I allowed myself to hug her back.

She would never find out. Well, not from my lips anyway.

**XxX**

Hermione:

It was late by the time I left Luke standing at the entrance to the dungeons. I was happier than I had been for a while. All thoughts of Luke were driven from my thoughts as I entered the Gryffindor common room and nodded slowly at Gin, who was sitting by herself by the fires. Instead of saying anything, however, she just put her head in her hands, muttering to herself.

I made my way over to her and asked as subtle as I could, "Where's Harry?"

"With some girl; they've been meeting up every week or so. I believe she goes to Beauxbatons and will return at the end of the year."

I didn't know what to say to this revelation and so just patted her back gently. In the end, she looked raised her head to mine and said, "You've been ages."

It wasn't a question but it most definitely required an answer, which I wasn't too happy to give. I jerked my head in the direction of the girls' dormitories and Ginny followed as I made my way up. I plonked myself down on my bed, facing her. She reiterated her question and I sighed before muttering, "When I was eleven, I met this boy called Luke. I haven't seen him since but earlier, in The Three Broomsticks, the guy with Malfoy. I didn't recognise him at the time but he was visiting Dumbledore when I was and we chatted. That's what took me so long."

She was silent for so long that I feared she was asleep, but a glance in her direction proved otherwise. She seemed deep in thought, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth.

"Whatever you do, don't tell Harry and Ron," she warned eventually. As I opened my mouth to demand why, she supplied, "I don't think they'd like you being friends with a friend of Malfoy's."

I nodded at her logic but refrained from saying anything else as Lavender and Parvati both stumbled in, glaring daggers at us. It seemed that they wanted to be alone but I wasn't moving and in the end, they quickly made their way out, leaving us alone once again.

"Dumbledore said yes?" Ginny asked, effectively changing the subject, and I nodded emphatically, "We have to go to his office tomorrow morning."

Gin peeked from under her lashes at me and asked in the voice she used whenever she wanted to get her own way, "Can we try and make the potion with the ingredients you've already thought of?"

**XxX**

"What do we need?"

Ginny and I were standing by a cauldron in – where else? – Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Next to me on the group was Neville's Mimbulus mimbletonia, which he had no idea we had.

"The valerian roots and the rue can be found in the forbidden forest, while the hellebore and the lovage will be in Snape's stores," I explained hurriedly, "You get them; I'll go to the forest."

She looked like she wanted to argue for a moment but the expression soon vanished and she nodded grimly, taking Harry's cloak and leaving. After casting a spell to make our things undetectable, I also took my leave.

It was dark and late so I quickly placed a dissolutionment charm on myself and slipped out of the door, into the biting wind outside.

The forest loomed menacingly before me as I hurried towards it, careful to stay out of the light emitted from inside Hagrid's hut. It was only marginally warmer undercover of the trees than it was out of them but I had no-one to complain to and I quickly hurried on.

A wolf howled somewhere, startling me to a stop, but I shook my head and continued. Grass covered the ground and the valerian plant was also green so it was hard to find. Eventually, almost by accident, I tripped on what looked like a badger's hole. On closer inspection, it was man-made. By the side of it was the typical green plant. I didn't stay at the hole long – wondering what it was doing there – and quickly pulled the valerian up so that I could take the roots. Next came the rue – which meant road in French – which, unlike the valerian, could be seen easily because of its yellow flowers. Unfortunately, rue didn't grow in winter and I was scared of losing my way. I quickly backtracked and made my way to Hagrid's door, knocking loudly.

Hagrid answered nervously, crossbow in hand. He stared around in confusion for a moment and I wondered why, before I remembered that I had a dissolutionment charm. Hurriedly remedying that, I asked as politely as I could if he had any spare rue.

"What d'ya wunt rue fer?" He asked gruffly, peering down at me.

"It's for the assignment," I replied, giving him a winning smile that had him handing me the yellow flower it a loud sigh, "Jus' be careful."

**XxX**

Ginny was already there when I returned, her two ingredients in her hands.

"This probably will not work," I warned immediately, throwing mine in and hers followed soon after. The Mimbulus mimbletonia soon lost a couple of boils which would be the defence the patient needed in order to survive taking the potion. I stirred counter-clockwise for a long time until my mixture was a muddy colour. Then I stopped, raising my eyes to Ginny's as she put some of it into a vial.

Our first try.

**I know that the end of this chapter is quite boring, and I'm sorry for that. I had writers block today but I hope you liked the Hermione-Luke reunion. Please tell me your thoughts.**

**Thanks.**


	4. St Mungos

**READ THE AUTHORS NOTE…**

**Author's note: I feel really bad about doing this, guys, but I need to change Hermione's brother's age so that he is still in school. Instead of him being fourteen in the first chapter, he is going to be twelve. That makes him in his seventh year at Hogwarts, the same age as Luke and a year older than Hermione.**

**I just want to say a few thanks to my AMAZING reviewers.**

**BigTimeGleekBTR – I'm glad that you love the story; it's going to get a lot more interesting as it continues. Thanks for reviewing to each of the chapter, and hope you will carry on doing so.**

**Simplewhiterose – I definitely will update as soon as possible. I'm glad you love the story, that's for reviewing chapters one and two, please continue.**

**EliseDCervantes – I wanted Hermione to have a sibling that wasn't a muggle just to give the story a nice edge, and I love that you agree. I know that I only mention that Hermione knew Harry outside of school only once, but later on she is going to meet Dudley again, I only had it that they met in the first chapter so that Luke had something to comfort her about. Thanks for the awesome review.**

**Banana Flavoured Eskimo – I love that you think it is adorable, and I have to agree with you. Please keep reviewing.**

**I know I've said this A MILLION TIMES, but please, please, please READ AND REVIEW.**

**St Mungo's**

Luke:

The Slytherin common room was dismal and dull compared to the rest of the castle, with an eerie green light that seemed to be coming from the walls themselves. The chairs were the traditional green and silver and the flames in the grate were emerald rather than crimson. All in all, it wasn't exactly a homely place, and was empty save for a seventh-year sitting solitary by the fire.

I didn't want to have to chat to him but he looked up as I tried to cross unnoticed and gave me a weak smile before he turned back to the fire, watching the flickering flames. Sighing, I approached and took the seat opposite him, watching him for a moment in silence before speaking.

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

I was slightly put-off by his one-word answer but asked the question again and – after throwing me a death-glare – he launched into an explanation.

"I know it's my final year and all, but I really want to spend more time with my sister. She's in Gryffindor and I'm in Slytherin. No-one knows that we're even related but I'm tired of it."

"Who's your sister?"

"Hermione Granger."

I started in surprise, momentarily stunned, but he was already speaking again, "You're that guest of Malfoy's, aren't you?"

I barked out a laugh and nodded, following the line of his gaze to the hypnotising flames and unconsciously smiling at the thought of a certain brunette Gryffindor.

"I'm sorry I don't know your name."

"Jason."

He was back to one word answers, it seemed, but I wouldn't let that deter me. "I know you don't know me very well but I suggest you send her a message via owl so that you can both meet up outside that room you call the Great Hall one day. If you both enter at the same time, smiling and laughing – maybe you should throw in a hug for good measure – before taking your respective seats. If anyone asks, tell them the truth. " I stood up abruptly and left him with his thoughts, frowning as I thought that maybe that was no what Hermione would want. I almost laughed at myself, since when did I start caring so much about a girl I had technically only met three times?

"By the way, my names Luke Castellan," I said as I reached the entrance to my dorm, conveniently forgetting what Dumbledore had told me about changing my surname. I bit back the laugh, however, as my dorm mates were sleeping. I lay down and closed my eyes.

_I was facing a battlefield. The dead and dying lay in clumps here and there, surrounded by sparse grass, yellow in the fading light. It stank of decay and, turning around, I could see at my back thousands upon thousands of monsters. _

_I turned back around again, watching with satisfaction as another demi-God fell. I could see Percy Jackson fighting for his life to one side, his sword _rip-tide_ flashing menacingly as he slashed thought another ally, causing bright blue blood to squirt from its neck. Annabeth was to the other side, a bow-and-arrow strung across her back. She seemed to be limping and crimson blood was seeping through the leg of her trousers, but that wasn't deterring her. To my immense surprise, there were also Witches and Wizards dotted here and there – although they were few and far between. _

_I felt a presence next to me and turned to see Draco standing there, a grim smile on his face. He didn't look at me but said, "He's here."_

_I knew who _he _was, that much was obvious, but decided not let it show and returned to watching the scene that unfolded before me. _

_None of it mattered much to me, not even the fact that my old friends were dying, but I could see a figure straight in front of me, her wand flashing as she shot spell after spell, to no avail. Hermione's eyes widened at something over my shoulder but before I could turn and check it out, there was an arrow embedded in her chest. Her eyes found mine and, before they froze over, a solitary tear dripped from them, to splatter longingly on the ground…_

**XxX**

Hermione:

I woke feeling surprisingly refreshed. It seemed that everyone had already left as all the other beds were empty and I sighed once in annoyance; it wouldn't hurt them to wake me up. I heard a rhythmic tapping sound and frowned in confusion, trying to block it out but failing. Eventually I crawled out of bed and made my way to the window where a tawny owl was rapping his beak hard against the windowpane. I _knew _that owl. It was Jason's.

With a gasp I dragged open the window and snatched the letter up, reading rapidly. I relaxed slightly as it didn't hold bad news. I turned to give Comet a few treats but he'd already gone so I shrugged nonchalantly.

_Meet me outside the Great Hall at ten to seven._

It was from Jase so why did he want to meet up when everyone would already be inside? Unless…I glanced at the clock, he finally wanted to tell everyone that we were related.

I grinned at that thought, hoping I was right, and getting dressed into my lumpy school robes. Ten minutes later – at quarter to – I was exiting the common room to make my solitary way to the Great Hall. Jase was already waiting, hidden in the shadows and I crept up behind him, startling him like I used to when we were young.

"To cut a long story short," he hissed as any late stragglers entered, "I finally want everyone to know that we are related. Is that okay?"

So, my thoughts had been correct.

I gave him a winning grin and nodded enthusiastically, not trusting myself to speak, and he took my hand, leading me to the entrance.

"Ready?" He asked, "Pretend like we're talking about something."

"We are we talking about…" I began, confused, but was shoved none-too-gently into the Hall with Jase following closely behind. I turned to face him, well aware of the stares we were getting and opened my mouth to speak. Before I could, however, he had attacked me in a bone-crushing hug that had me gasping for breath.

When he pulled back I nodded weakly, muttering a, "See you," before taking my place beside Gin and opposite Ron and Harry.

"Who the hell was that? I never knew you were friends with a Slytherin," Harry exploded immediately, Ron nodding along to everything he said. I hesitated, unsure of whether I _really _wanted them to know. In the end I decided that, yes I did want them to know.

"He's my brother."

I left it at that, hoping that they wouldn't get mad. For a moment they seemed shocked into silence but then Harry hissed in a voice so unlike his own, "Your brother is in _Slytherin _and you never thought to tell us."

I shrugged, lowering my eyes from his and thinking of a way it could all work out again. I dimly heard them leave and Gin put her hand on mine.

"Ignore them; I think it's cool that you have a brother in another house."

"You do?"

"Sure, it's amazing."

The wheels were turning in my head as Gin stood and left. What if there was a way of making Gin forget about Harry?

I grinned slightly, this was it. This was a plan that could actually work. With that thought in my head, I started eating; ignoring the weird stares and glares I was receiving.

I was only allowed to eat for ten minutes because we had a meeting with Dumbledore at seven, so I cut my meal short and arrived in his office just in time. Everyone was already there, but both Ron and Harry turned from me, wearing matching expressions of disgust, when I entered. Gin, however, grinned and motioned to her pocket, where I knew our potion was.

"Are you ready? When you arrive ask for Healer Snow," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling with amusement at the tension in the room. He didn't say anything else and instead motioned to a manky old boot on his desk. It had the distinct look of a portkey and I braced myself for the unpleasant pull of my naval as I touched it.

Once the feeling was over, we found ourselves in a tiny room in what was obviously St Mungo's because there were doctors coats strewn all over the place. Gin opened the door and we quickly exited, earning a yelp from a young healer who had been about to open the door.

"We need to see Healer Snow," I demanded quietly, watching as the other Healer nodded hurriedly and began leading the way.

We were soon admitted into a large room, decorated completely in white, with a desk in one corner which had many drawers in it, upon which was a couple of flasks and a notebook with a quill and ink lying next to it. In the middle of the room there was an empty bed, but apart from that there was no other furniture.

A man – who must have been Healer Snow – was sitting on the bed, regarding us with interest. He stood up when the door closed behind us and began to speak in a nasally voice, "I believe you are the students Albus sent?"

No-one moved so I spoke for all of us, "Yes, sir."

"Enough with the formalities, I am Damien and you shall address me as such. Now, your names are Hermione," he indicated me and I nodded. "Harry," he did the same. "Ginny and Ron, ah yes, you're Weasleys."

Without waiting for an answer he continued, "I have got an extensive list of people who are willing to let you experiment on them, and all are victims of the Cruciatus Curse. If you need any help just ask." He gave me a long sheaf of parchment. There was a knock on the door and the Healer left just as the young man from earlier entered, leading a very thin, balding man in a light green hospital dress over to the bed. He watched us with wide eyes and I instantly felt sorry for him, determined to help him and others like him. The Healer left and the man – the sheet called him Sampson Drecovitch – lay down obediently on the bed.

Gin removed the vial of potion and poured it into one of the flasks on the desk while I wrote down the ingredients of the potion and the man's name into the notebook that had been so considerately given to us.

"You do it," Ginny thrust the flask at he brother, who only just caught it but didn't seem to want to give it to him either. In the end, Harry took the flask and tipped it down his throat.

At first nothing happened, but then Sampson's eyes flickered open. They were clear and he seemed to know who we were. For a moment he just watched us, before he opened his mouth to speak. Before he could get any words out, a spasm overtook him, leaving his convulsing on the bed, foaming at the mouth.

I let out a horrified gasp, having no idea how to treat him because I didn't know what was wrong with him. I rushed to the desks, rummaging in the first drawer but not finding what I was searching for. Harry joined me, asking, "What are we searching for?"

"A bezoar." At his confused glance at the youngest Weasley's, I explained, "It's a stone. Just try and find one, okay?"

He nodded and we rummaged for another couple of minutes while Samson's pitiful moans became quieter and quieter. It was clear that he was dying.

After what seemed like hours, Harry shouted, "Got it," and held a rough stone in his hand. I snatched it from him and placed it in the victims mouth, watching with bated breath as his eyes closed.

Ron swore under his breath but then Sampson's chest began to rise and fall. I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, and sank wearily onto the edge of the bed as Ginny called for Damien.

We were shown another portkey and soon were back in Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster nodded once to us before he exited. I checked my watch, it was only ten to eleven and classes didn't start for another five minutes.

"We're still mad at you," Ron supplied when we emerged and I nodded distractedly, just wanting to be alone although I didn't know why.

"I'll see you guys in Transfiguration," I murmured before leaving, intent on making it to the Room of Requirement where I could just be alone with my thoughts.

**XxX**

Luke:

"Hey Castellan," a voice shouted from behind me as I walked with Draco to his first class of the day: Transfiguration with the Gryffindors. I turned and saw Jason making his way towards me.

"I just wanna say thanks," he murmured before he nodded and, keeping his eyes down, left me standing there, confused. A loud laugh drew me from my thoughts and I turned to face Draco.

"Honestly, I don't know how he got into Slytherin. He is a mudblood after all, and a Granger to boot." I just ignored him and made my way inside, thinking of a certain Gryffindor also of the same surname. Draco followed at a steady distance, his eyes on my back, frowning with confusion. Never mistake confusion for concern; Slytherins didn't feel concern.

"Oi, Castellan," he shouted eventually, "You're going the wrong way."

With a low growl of frustration, I turned the other way and stalked past him down the corridor. Draco struggled to catch up but that didn't deter me, in fact I moved slightly faster. I wasn't sure why I was so annoyed at him, it made no sense, but I guessed it had something to do with Hermione, her being a Granger.

"What's wrong with you?" He demanded suddenly, jumping in front of me and halting my progress. I sneered at him, seeing the look of confusion still etched upon his handsome features. When I said nothing, he held open the door for me, allowing me to enter the Transfiguration classroom first. I gave him one last glare before entering, noticing how everyone but Hermione was there; even her best friends – Harry Potter and Ron Weasley – were there. They were chatting quietly among themselves, eyes turned to the door, twin expressions of concern on their faces.

I took the seat beside Pansy, allowing Draco to take the one beside Blaise. I saw him give me a cursory glance out of the corner of his eyes before turning his eyes to the front as McGonagall entered, her eyes sweeping the class, landing on Potter and Weasley longer than anyone else.

She began to speak but I wasn't listening, my eyes were turned to the door as if it would open to reveal Hermione. I shook my head to clear it, turning my eyes to the Professor as she called my name.

"I know you are unable to perform this magic at this time as you have no wand, but I can't stress enough how important it is that you listen, you may need this in later life."

I frowned at her before nodding sharply, turning my eyes to Pansy as she attempted the spell, snorting at her pathetic attempt. She turned a glare on me and I raised my hands in defeat, causing her to sneer a Slytherin-worthy sneer.

**XxX**

Hermione:

_I was running, running, running, my feet pounding the ground as I forced myself to run faster, fleeing from an unseen entity. Greyness passed on either side, materialising into houses and streets through which people with blank faces strode with purpose and meaning. It looked like a scene out of a pensive, silent and wary. Even though it was silent, there was something behind me, something nearing as the seconds drew to a close. A voice said eerily, "One of Rome and one of Greece call, civilisation near to fall. A heart trapped forever; only by pushing aside loyalties will peace ensue. A mistake made, a friend lost. And all must beware, for unseen enemies lurk in the shadows._

_I was standing in front of the Empire State Building in New York, America. It was completely destroyed, smoke burst from the windows on each floor and clumps of men and monsters fought out in front. Cars were stalled in the street, muggles sleeping soundly inside. A man with bright gold eyes stood in the centre, watching it all unfold before him, his face blank. He seemed oddly familiar and yet strange at the same time. _

_He began to stride towards the building, ignoring how the battle-worn people on either side stopped fighting for a moment to watch him. A girl with long blond hair attempted to stop him, but was cut down cruelly as, without a backward glance, he strode inside, the door slamming shut behind him…_

I awoke as a clock struck somewhere in the castle, jolting me up. I was in a dark place, shadows clinging to the walls on either side. From out of the dimness I could just make out the shapes of bookshelves – I was still in the library. But why was it so dark?

I checked my watch and nearly screamed as it bleeped 10:46. I had been asleep since lessons had started that morning; I had missed the whole day of school. That didn't make any sense, no-one sleeps in a library for that long and isn't seen. Madam Pince always checked everywhere in the library before closing.

I jolted upright, the events of earlier coming back to me in a rush.

_I stood to exit the Great Hall, thoughts of Ginny and Jase occupying my mind. Well, they were occupying my mind until someone crashed into me, knocking me to the ground. Glaring up I saw the cold, steel-grey eyes of Draco Malfoy regarding me coolly as he snapped, "Watch where you're going mudblood."_

_I took a deep breath, not allowing the words to sting me as they used to while I replied, "You ran into me, ferret-face."_

_His face contorted in fury as he scrambled to his feet, wand in his hand, pointed at my chest. For some reason, I was feeling incredibly bold as didn't even flinch as he pressed it into the flesh of my neck._

"_Aren't you going to curse me?"_

_Parkinson, Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle and Nott all stood behind him, along with other Slytherins I didn't recognise. None of them urged him to curse me and instead all strolled away. This was the first indication I got that something was going on._

_The second was when I began to make my way to the Transfiguration classroom. I saw Malfoy and his cronies ahead of me, Luke striding ahead for some reason. A little first year Hufflepuff ran into the midst of their group but, instead of hexing him, he was ignored as they continued to chat amongst themselves._

_Instead of heading to Transfiguration, I decided to do a bit of research, this behaviour was not natural. I made my way to the only place I could think of, the Room of Requirement._

I need a place in which to study, _I thought and, miraculously, the door appeared._

_Upon entering, I saw a room stretched out like the library except that this had even more books and only one small table in the centre. Upon this I collapsed, my bag falling onto the floor. After a few moments I stood, deciding to peruse the isles of books._

_At first glance, nothing caught my attention, but then I saw a small book tucked away behind another. Pulling it out, curiosity peaked, I read the cover: A Demigod Guide to all things monstrous. I gave a slight laugh at the absurd cover, believing Demigods to be beings of myth and legends. _

_I opened the book to the first page, reading with interest._

Demigods – or Half-bloods – are children born to a mortal and a god. All Demigods wield powers connected to the domain of their divine parent and these abilities grow stronger with age. While most demigods are created much like regular humans, children of Athena are born from their mother's thoughts merging with their father's. The other gods are likely to be able to do similar things, however no known examples of similar births are known.

Most demigods wait to be claimed. Children of Athena are claimed at birth, while others have to demonstrate some form of their parents' trait to be noticed, either through cunning, powers, skills like archery, or even beauty. Few demigods have full-blooded siblings (with the exception of twins), as their godly parent will usually leave their mortal consorts not long after a child is born, or sometimes even before that.

Greek demigods often go on quests given to them by the Oracle of Delphi, whom is currently in the body of Rachel Elizabeth Dare. If the demigod is Roman, they are usually issued a quest by Octavian or, in at least one instance, a Roman god.

_I stopped reading, fascinated and slightly confused by the book, wondering what it all meant and why it had appeared to me. I shrugged once, my head dropping onto my arms as I fell asleep, my body aching, though from what, I couldn't guess._

**XxX**

Luke:

"Luke, wait up," Draco's voice came from behind me, sounding oddly desperate, but I didn't slow down. I was on a mission to find a missing Gryffindor, whom no-one had seen since breakfast. He shouted my name once more and, with a huff of annoyance, I turned to face the blond Slytherin, raising my eyebrows.

"What's up?"

"That's all you came to tell me?" I demanded, more annoyed than ever, "Because if it was, I have more important things to do."

"Okay," he conceded after a moment's silence, "I just needed to tell you that we have a meeting with my father tonight at eight in the Hogs Head."

"It's not a Hogsmede weekend," I reminded him stiffly, wanting more than anything to be out of the wannabe Death Eaters presence.

"There are other ways to get out of the castle. I'll meet you in the common room at quarter to. Don't tell anyone."

With those words, he turned and swept away, leaving me to grumble at his back, angry that he had told me what to do. I said nothing, however, and resumed my search for Hermione, wanting more than anything to be with her, though I had no idea why.

It was as I was reaching the seventh floor that I came across someone sitting in the corridor opposite a picture of someone trying to teach trolls to dance. I shook my head at the foolishness and took a closer look at the girl. She was reading something, though I couldn't see the cover and had no desire to, having never been a big reader. She seemed to sense my presence, and looked up, grinning widely.

"Where've you been?" I asked her as I watched her place the book in her bag and take my hand to let me help her to stand.

"I was reading this morning and I fell asleep, I woke up about five minutes ago."

Not quite believing the very unbelievable story, I just nodded silently and watched as she grinned at me, "Were you worried?"

"Of course not," I stammered, trying my hardest not to go bright red, I never blushed. She laughed, the sound tinkling merrily in the silence, and murmured, "Uh huh, of course you weren't."

I laughed despite myself and fell into step beside her as she made her way down the moving staircase to the third floor where she said she wanted to study in the Library.

I nodded, wondering who on Earth would actually choose to study. I didn't say anything, however, and followed her, inexplicably happy that I had found her unharmed.

We parted ways when we arrived and I made my way down to the Slytherin common room, to have some quiet time before meeting with Draco's father. I was also curious to find out what he would be doing for his project.

It was only seven but Draco was already ready and he raised his eyebrows in a silent question when he saw me. Mentally steeling myself, I nodded and together we walked out of the Slytherin common room to meet Lucius Malfoy. For some strange reason I had a bad feeling about it, but I didn't know why.

**A cliffhanger, I know and I'm sorry but I love them. I have a few questions for you and if you wish to answer please review.**

**What will Draco and Luke's project be about?**

**What will they talk about with Draco's father?**

**What bad thing will happen when they meet Lucius Malfoy?**

**All will be revealed next chapter but I shall not write another chapter if I receive no reviews. You have been warned.**


	5. Suspense

**Author's note: No-one has answered the questions from the bottom of the previous chapter so I am going to keep you in suspense until someone does. Please keep reviewing and to all those who reviewed the last chapter…**

**BigTimeGleekBTR – I will update whenever I can and I'm thrilled that you love the story, I hope you continue to do so.**

**Simple White Rose – I have to agree. Percy and Harry are both amazing, which is what compelled me to write one for both of them together and I always thought that Luke and Hermione would make a cute couple. I will update when I can but I have six exams in January so I am quite busy.**

**Suspense**

Hermione:

"This is it," I murmured to myself as I stood in the Great Hall about to go to the Quidditch pitch to watch the trials for keeper, two chasers and the beaters – as Angelina, Alicia, Oliver, Fred and George had left last year. Harry was captain and Ron was trying for keeper but that wasn't why I was going. Ginny was trying out for chaser – even though her preferred position was seeker – and Jason had a detention – no surprises there – so he would still be out. I just hoped that try outs wouldn't last too long.

"Hey Mione," a cheerful voice said from behind me and I turned to face Gin, who was grinning nervously.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, raising my eyebrows slightly at her flushed and very annoyed face – although she was trying to hide the annoyance.

"Nervous," was her only reply and my eyebrows rose higher, clearly that wasn't the answer I was looking for. We were silent for a few moments before she finally spoke, "I saw Harry a few moments ago with _her,_ though I couldn't actually see her face."

At the clear jealousy in her voice, I grinned mischievously, it was definitely the day to put my plan into action.

Before I made my way to the stands, I turned to look at her one final time and said in a loud, clear voice, "Meet me here after try outs, I have someone I would like you to meet."

I noticed her confused gaze but shook my head, she would find out later. Smiling to myself, I situated myself just behind Lavender Brown – one of my dorm mates – and rolled my eyes at her obvious obsession with Ron, who was clearly not interested.

Try outs started out okay, with Ginny and Demelza Robins securing the places as chasers, but it soon became apparent that we wouldn't have half the team we had last year. The two beaters became Jimmy Coote and Jack Sloper – both of whom were decidedly awful. The try outs only came to a head, however, when it was time for the keepers to perform. Cormac McLaggen was a good player but he was arrogant and most people wanted Ron to win.

As Ginny shot McLggen's final Quaffle at him, I pulled out my wand and muttered a quick confundus charm, causing him to fly in the wrong direction. Ron was nearly on the floor with tears streaming down his face as McLaggen landed, sour faced.

It soon became apparent that Ron would be made keeper and Cormac stormed off the pitch in a huff, shouting that we would be sorry when we were defeated by Slytherin, a thought that had Harry gritting his teeth and glowering at him.

I waited for Ginny at the place I had told her to meet me and was about to walk away again, determined that she wasn't going to show up, when I heard her clear her voice behind me.

"What was it you wanted Mi?"

"I want you to meet someone," was my only reply as I led the way back into the castle, grinning smugly at the confusion on her face.

**XxX**

Ginny:

Ginny followed her friend into the castle, wondering what all this was about and why Hermione seemed so exited. She had a good idea who Hermione wanted to introduce her to, but had no idea why.

"Oi," Mione shouted when they were in the Entrance Hall and Gin was about to shush her when she noticed a figure making his way to the dungeons. She groaned, Hermione wanted her to meet a Slytherin.

The Slytherin in question jumped as he heard the shout from behind him and whirled around to face his sister. If he was confused that he was actually talking to him, it was nothing to what he felt when he saw the Weasley walking behind her. She wanted him to meet a Gryffindor.

Jason opened his mouth to tell Hermione that it would never work, when he saw the bright brown eyes of the Weasley staring into his. Slightly unnerved, he lowered his eyes and then raised them to Mione's.

She was watching him expectantly, as if she wanted him to say something, but he had no idea what to say. In the end she let out a low scream of frustration and introduced, "Gin, this is my brother Jason. Jase, this is Ginny Weasley."

She waited for them to shake hands, which they did, albeit reluctantly.

"Why did you want me to meet your brother?" Ginny asked, her eyes staring innocently into her friends.

"Gin, you need to stop running after Harry like a lovesick puppy. I'm sorry but he doesn't reciprocate the feelings and you need to move on."

"You expect me to go out with a Slytherin?" Ginny demanded, her voice rising with the horror in her voice, "Mi, I can't do that."

"No, don't go out, just be friends."

She smiled innocently at them and, neither wanting to hurt her feeling, both nodded and Jase agreed quietly, "We'll go to Hogsmede in December."

"Brilliant," Mione grinned and left them standing there, both with an awkward grin on their faces.

"I don't really want to hurt her feelings," Jase began nervously, "And my first choice wouldn't be to befriend a Gryffindor but she is my sister…" He trailed off, willing her to understand, which, to his immense relief, she did.

"Same here."

They lapsed into silence again until Jason broke it, "I know of a little coffee shop in Hogsmede, it's a little romantic but no students ever go in there and I don't really want us to be seen."

Like the Slytherin he was, he said nothing to cushion the blow that he words might have had on the red-headed Gryffindor, but she wasn't offended and nodded before speaking, "I totally agree and I might have fun."

She gave him a nervous smile, which he returned. She didn't want to give Hermione the satisfaction that she had been right about her brother, but Ginny couldn't deny that Jason was very friendly, not to mention handsome.

She gave a very girly, un-Ginny-like giggle behind her hand and regarded him with big, brown eyes. He managed to get himself lost in her eyes but she was still a Slytherin, and he was a Gryffindor so he refrained from doing something that he would regret.

He saw her blush and could only imagine what she was thinking about. In order to make her even more nervous, before he left he raised the back of her hand to his mouth and kissed it softly.

**XxX**

Harry:

Harry was waiting in the shadows while he watched Hermione and Ginny talking to Hermione's good-for-nothing Slytherin of a brother. He curled his lip in disdain and turned his back on the offending sight. He glowered at nothing so as to not have to see the Slytherin flirting with Ginny. He felt the familiar twinge of jealousy in his gut but he quickly pushed it to one side. He had a girlfriend. Even as he watches, he caught sight of some platinum-blond hair and grinned at his girlfriend as she crept up to him, also grinning, her twinkling blue eyes lighting up at the sight of him.

**I have one more question to ask…**

**Who is Harry's girlfriend?**

**Review to answer.**


	6. Girlfriend

**Simplewhiterose – You'll have to read the next chapter to find out if Luna is Harry's girlfriend. And yes, Jason is the same guy out of Heroes of Olympus, what does that make Hermione? Can you guess? Thanks for reviewing, hope you like the chapter.**

**TsukiyoTenshi**** – Your weird feeling is correct, but do you remember Harry's reaction to seeing Ginny talking to Jason at the end of the last chapter? Do you really think it is Daphne Greengrass as she is a Slytherin? I'm glad you like it, thanks for reviewing.**

**Authors note: As no-one bothered to answer the questions at the bottom of chapter four, I am going to include them in this chapter and I am sorry that the last chapter was so short, I really wanted to update soon.**

**Girlfriend**

Harry:

Luna Lovegood was smiling abashedly at him, her head tilted downwards. She really liked Harry but didn't know how Ginny would react to knowing that they were dating as it was obvious that Ginny liked Harry. It seemed that only Harry himself couldn't see that.

"How's Ginny?" she asked as nonchalantly as possible, while secretly hoping that Harry would get the hint that she was scared of what Ginny would say. Her boyfriend didn't and just turned his back on her, pointing with disgust to where Ginny and Jason were talking.

"They would make a cute couple, he is really nice," was her only reply as she took his hand in her own and rubbed her thumb along it.

"You know him?"

"He is Hermione's brother," she replied with an affirmative nod. Harry scowled further, he didn't need a reminder.

Luna was watching him cautiously as she gently raised her free hand to his cheek and kept it there for a moment before she replied, picking her words with care. "I know you do not like Slytherins, but not all of them are as bad as Draco Malfoy. I have spoken to Jason and he seemed very nice."

"Yeah, they seem it," Harry grunted in response, still refusing to take his eyes from the smiling two. He had been unsure as to why Hermione had been there earlier even though Jason was her brother. He would have been sure that they would have wanted the time alone.

"He is too old for her."

"Come on Harry," she laughed dreamily, "They are only two years apart."

He glowered at them and Luna decided that it was time to divert Harry's attention by inviting him to walk the grounds with her. At first he was shocked and surprised, but then he agreed, merely for the fact that he could leave Ginny and Jason.

"I didn't think you would be one to break school rules," he began when they were finally out of sight of everyone. Luna stopped by the edge of the black lake, and sat on the slightly damp grass. Harry sat beside her and turned to watch her, noticing that her usual dreamy expression had vanished, to be replaced by a pensive look that he couldn't read.

"Everyone thinks I'm crazy," she began what appeared to be a long story. Harry opened his mouth to interrupt but she held up one slender finger and he let her continue.

"I know what they call me, and it doesn't faze me, but the truth is that I am not crazy. I have seen pain like everyone else and it makes me slightly unusual but I feel like everyone else, I have a thirst for adventure like everyone else, I am like everyone else. But no-one see's that. All they see is Luna Lovegood, the fifth-year Ravenclaw, friend to Ginny Weasley and a complete loon." She took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't want to be that girl anymore, Harry. I want to be someone that you wouldn't be afraid to tell anyone you were dating."

"I'm not afraid…" he began but she interrupted with a scowl, "Yes you are. You won't say it to anyone, but you are. What would they say if they knew that you were dating me? The loon of Ravenclaw, the girl everyone always nicks the stuff of."

Harry thought about it and suddenly realised that she was right. He had been afraid to tell everyone about her, and that realisation shocked him. She could see in his face that he had finally realised it and nodded to herself.

"You can't be happy with me Harry."

Even though it broke her heart to say it, it had to be said. Harry should be with some pretty but clever girl like Cho Chang or Ginny, not her. Unbeknownst to Luna, however, Harry had no intention of letting her dump him without a fight.

"You're dumping me?"

He tried to make himself sound hurt and he pouted in such a way that made her laugh even though it was no laughing matter. Her giggles soon subsided and she watched him warily.

"Harry, you would be better off…"

This time it was he who interrupted, "With you. Luna, I love you."

It was the first time he had said the words, and they fitted with the situation. He saw her eyes widen in shock at his revelation but he refused to let himself be cowed by the fact that she didn't respond immediately. He knew she would respond eventually.

He wasn't mistaken.

After she had gotten over her shock, she murmured the four words he hadn't realised he had been craving to hear, "I love you too."

Without thinking about it – before he could regret it – he pulled her to him for a sweet kiss, only pulling back when he needed air.

And that was how it happened; Harry Potter fell in love with Luna Lovegood.

**XxX**

Luke:

Draco was watching me as we made our way to the Hogs Head, but every time I turned to face him he would turn away. I didn't know where we were going so was slightly suspicious when we turned off the main street and into a back ally. I had no reason to be nervous as we arrived at the Hogs Head barely five minutes later.

It seemed that Mr Malfoy wasn't there yet so we sat down and ordered drinks we wouldn't usually be allowed because we were underage. The wizened man at the bar didn't seem to care.

We didn't have to wait long before the door creaked open once more and in entered a platinum-blond-haired man that looked so much like Draco it was scary. He made his way to our table and I stood to greet him, bobbing my head out of respect.

"Mr Malfoy."

"Call me Lucius."

To the casual observer, this quote would have seemed like kindness, but even though this was the first time we had met, I knew better. I wanted nothing more than to run away because he exuded such an air of dark magic, but the General had been very specific that I get Draco's father to introduce me to the Dark Lord.

"Firewhisky," Lucius barked, glaring with steel-grey eyes at the barman, who tripped over his feet in order to get him his drink quicker.

"I believe you know that I request an audience with your master?" I asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Lucius didn't reply for a whole minute – I was counting – and just regarded me steadily. I wanted to cower under his scrutinising gaze but that would be showing weakness and one thing I had learned when working with the people I did, never show weakness. So I just sat there, staring back at him, narrowing my eyes ever so slightly to show that I meant business.

"I do," was all he replied as he switched his glare to his son, who kept his emotions carefully concealed behind an indifferent façade.

I wasn't sure what to say, but I didn't have to because Lucius spoke before I could, "You shall meet him on the twenty fifth of November. Go to the Forbidden Forest and grab hold of the object that looks like an old boot. It will actually be a port key and will take you to the required destination. Draco, you shall accompany him."

I nodded once as Lucius left and then finally allowed my emotions to slip through. Draco, however, still remained still and poised, as if waiting to be kidnapped. I rolled my eyes at his behaviour and stood, motioning for him to follow me.

**XxX**

Hermione:

Maybe setting Ginny and Jason up wasn't the best – or the cleverest – thing I had ever done, but Gin didn't come back complaining so I was optimistic. I was sitting in the common room by the fire with Ron – Harry had disappeared somewhere with his girlfriend – when she returned. As soon as Ron saw that his younger sister was safe, he retired to his room while Ginny took the seat he had recently vacated.

At first she didn't seem to want to talk, her eyes were lowered nervously, and I shifted in confusion. Had Jase been rude to her? Did she not like him?

"Don't try and play matchmaker."

Her voice was so quiet that at first I thought I had misheard her, but then she raised her eyes to mine. There was a fire behind them, a fire that made me wince inside.

"It won't work. I know Harry has a girlfriend – though I don't know who she is – and I'm going to move on. I just want to do it at my own pace."

"Of course," I replied immediately, mixed emotions swirling inside of me. On the one hand I was relieved, it would be a lot less work, but on the other I was disappointed. Ginny and Jason would make such a cute couple.

Gin was talking again and I forced myself to listen to her, "I am going to Hogsmede with him on the next weekend and we'll go from there. At the moment all I'm looking for is a friend." She gave me a sly grin, "I wouldn't want to disappoint the brightest Witch of the Age now, would I?"

I beamed at her, glad that she didn't think my idea was totally atrocious. Jase could definitely do with a girlfriend; he had been moping a lot recently, though I had no idea why. I shrugged it off and turned back to Gin, racing her childishly up the stairs to our dorm where I was asleep the moment my head touched the pillow.

**XxX**

Dumbledore:

The room was full; it was almost like a party except that everyone's face was sober and frowning. Sybil Trelawney stood in the middle, a vacant look in her magnified eyes as words spilled forth from her mouth. Minerva McGonagall stood next to Albus Dumbledore, a look of worry marring her wrinkled face. For once, Dumbledore's eyes weren't twinkling; they were clouded with something no-one had ever thought he would ever feel: fear. Horace Slughorn, a jovial and plump as ever, was trying to put on a brave face for his colleagues, but it was looking like more of a grimace than anything.

"_From the house of Roman and Greek, two mortal enemies by blood will meet. The Roman girl born in the mid of September 1979 while the boy born at the end of April 1978. A chance encounter, but one that will live through the ages until again they meet, and with her magic and his skill with the sword, none shall prevail. The only hope to destroy him forever lies in their hands and loyalty for all will need. The long-dead King of Gods will attempt to destroy the bond and only a child will be able to stop him."_

Trelawney's eyes unclouded and she turned to Dumbledore with a blank expression, "Did you say something dear?"

The headmaster managed to banish the worry from his eyes in the space of a second and smiled warmly at her, "Not at all. This meeting is adjourned, why don't you go back to your rooms?"

As soon as the door closed behind her, McGonagall whirled to face him, eyes flashing. "What was that Albus?" she demanded in a strangely calm voice.

"Why Minerva, I believe that was a prophecy," was the quiet reply. Dumbledore seemed lost in his own thoughts, "About the Greek and the Roman Demi-gods, I assume."

Minerva pursed her lips and continued to stare at him, but it was Flitwick who actually spoke in his squeaky voice, "What about the assignment we have given the students? Will it continue?"

"It shall," Dumbledore replied, sounding like the old man he was. It was like, in the few seconds since the prophecy had been told, he had aged fifty years.

"The girl has magic?" Horace demanded, "Meaning that she is probably in this school – a sixth year."

"Yes, you are quite right," Dumbledore replied worriedly, "This meeting really is adjourned, Minerva and Severus, would you mind staying a moment longer?"

Once the other teachers had left, Dumbledore turned to face the window and watched the silent grounds outside for a moment before speaking, "Minerva, would you fetch me a list of all of the sixth year students."

Once she had nodded and left, Dumbledore added, "Severus, I would like a list of all the seventeen year olds currently at Camp Half-blood or Camp Jupiter."

It took nearly ten minutes but soon the two professors were standing before him once again.

"I have a hunch as to who the girl is," he murmured, picking McGonagall's list up and examining it, crossing off a student here and there. When he lowered it again, only two students weren't crossed off – Hermione Granger and Cho Chang.

"There's two possibilities," Minerva pointed out, disappointment showing clearly on her face.

"You forget that the girl has to be of Roman birth," Albus reminded her with a secretive smile; "I think it's time we visit Mount Olympus."

For the first time in their lives, Snape and McGonagall actually agreed about something: Albus had finally lost it. They exchanged a glance, which the headmaster thankfully missed.

Instead, he moved over to the fireplace and took some floo powder, offering some to each of the remaining teacher, who both took a pinch and stepped into the flames, shouting, "Pompeii."

**Yay, cliff-hanger. I'm sorry for this chapter being so short, like the last one, but I really wanted a cliff-hanger and now you'll have to wait for the next chapter to be uploaded. **

**There is no equivalent to the Greek 'Mount Olympus' so I just used the same name and, whereas in Percy Jackson, Mount Olympus is on the Empire State Building, I placed this one in Pompeii because it doesn't actually mention the place.**

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**THANKS**


	7. Pompeii

**The-guest-who-reviewed-chapter-5 –** **I agree with you about Harry and thanks for the strong opinion, I loved reading it. In answer to your question, even though Hogwarts was a big school Jason decided to keep his head down and as a result, no-one in the other houses really knew anything** **about him – the Weasley's were all Gryffindors. They didn't put the connection with their surnames together because Granger is quite a common surname. The Slytherins did question why he was put in Slytherin but, like his sister, he is very good at magic and after a little bit of…persuasion…they never asked again. Also, although he may be a muggle-born sorted into Gryffindor, no-body questions the sorting hats choices. It knows best and that is just the way it is. Thanks for the awesome review.**

**Simplewhiterose – Thank you for the amazing review. Thalia and Jason were siblings, which means that Hermione is also related to her, although she doesn't realise it yet. Jason is unaware that he is a Demi-god but will find out in the following chapter. He was taken by his mother at birth and, when she married Granger, she changed his surname too. He doesn't know that Thalia is his sister yet, either, but all will be revealed soon. I hope you carry on reading and reviewing.**

**Tsyjuyo Tenshi – Thanks for your input on the prophecy and I will update as soon as possible, though I probably won't be able to update until school finished because I am going to be really busy. Keep reviewing **

**Pompeii**

Dumbledore:

"Pompeii."

Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall arrived none-too-gently in the ruins of the once-great town. They stood surveying the rubble and the tourists surrounding them for a moment before Dumbledore led the other two up the small hill to the right. The three professors emerged over the top and stopped in surprise.

It seemed like a whole city was nestled in the small alcove beneath a piece of overhanging rock. The houses seemed to give off a bright yellow light that made them look ghostly in the failing light from the sky. Right at the end stood the grandest building they had ever seen – and that included Hogwarts. It was gigantic with pearly-white turrets exploding out of the top and what looked like sea shells decorating the walls. The double, oak-wood doors towered over the three professors as they approached it.

They were all nervous, not sure of what to expect from the Roman Gods and Goddesses.

Dumbledore raised his hand to knock, but was prevented from doing so by it swinging open on oiled hinges. They shared loaded glances before entering the forbidding fortress, none eager to be the first.

The stood at the entrance to a cavernous room. There were twelve chairs situated in a semi-circle around the sides of the room. Each seat had been personalised by the Roman deity that sat there. For example: Neptune had a large trident sticking out of the side, and he had a net slung haphazardly over the back.

Jupiter was in the centre with his brothers, Neptune and Pluto, on either side. The other Gods were spread out to the left, while the Goddesses were on the left.

Jupiter gave Dumbledore a false smile as the headmaster knelt before him; McGonagall and Snape following suit.

"We've been expecting you," he rasped, an evil glint appearing in his eyes.

"I am here to talk about your children."

"We know," Jupiter replied, waving the old man's words away, "I'm listening."

"One of my professors for-told a prophecy about a child of one of yours, and a Greek Demi-god. We need to know who the child is, please, it is a matter of life and death."

"And what shall you give in return," the King of the Gods asked slyly, "Because we are not so generous."

Dumbledore knew better than to offer them money because they would not take it. Instead he replied, "The key to the Vale, the land between life and death, that was lost in the earliest sixteenth century by the blacksmith Hague."

On the left of his brother, Pluto leaned forward, "You seem well-learned."

"I make it my business."

"They key has been lost for centuries," Neptune snapped, "How are we to know that you have actually found it?"

"I haven't," Dumbledore replied, "But I know who has. An old friend of mine, Nicholas Flame – maybe you've heard of him?"

"Stupid Greek," Minerva snarled, her beautiful face turning ugly as she thought of the dead Alchemist.

"Before his death he came to me and entrusted into my safety a map. It is nothing remarkable but upon it is the entrance to a cave in the Alps in France. In this cave is the key."

Snape removed the old map from a pocked in his voluminous cloak and handed it to Jupiter, who began to fervently examine it.

No-one spoke for what seemed like hours before the King nodded and murmured, "You may stand. What is it you wish to know?"

"We need to know if there are Demi-gods at Hogwarts, if you will," McGonagall spoke up for the first time and almost blushed when all the attention was turned to her.

"We believe we know who they are but until we are sure, we do not want to risk telling them and being mistaken."

"Aah yes," Jupiter smiled sadly, "I have two children at Hogwarts, one in the sixth year and one in seventh. They are unaware of their true heritage, believing themselves to be muggle-born students."

"And they are?" Snape demanded rudely, tired of the Kings riddles. A flash of annoyance showed on Jupiter's face, but it was gone in an instant as he murmured, "Hermione and Jason Granger but, when they were born their mothers surname was Grace."

Dumbledore nodded, although it was clear that Jupiter expected the name to mean something to him. It didn't and the Gods didn't prevent them from leaving.

Silence weighed heavily on their minds: Hermione, part of the Golden trio and most likely head girl, wasn't even human. Worse, she was part of a prophecy destined to save or destroy the world.

"Now," Dumbledore stated before they left, "All we need to do is find this Greek Demi-god and inform Miss and Mr Granger of their heritage. I believe they are blissfully unaware."

**XxX**

Hermione:

The day dawned bright and clear, the sun filtering weakly through the blinds of the curtains. I snuck a glance at my dorm-mates and saw, to my satisfaction, that they were all still asleep. I tried to get back to sleep, but found that I was unable to.

With a low groan, I stood and quickly changed into a blue muggle top and jeans. Even though it was freezing outside, for some reason I wanted to walk on the roof. From up there you were supposed to be able to see for miles.

I glanced back only once before pulling myself out of the window and shivering in the sudden wind which whistled around me. I decided to keep the window open in case I needed to get back in in a rush.

The roof was bare but you really could see for miles: all the way to the lake and beyond to the mountains in the background. I found a smile tugging at the corners of my lips and smiled as I sat down next to one of the turrets that stuck out of the roof.

It was surprisingly warm and I snuggled down as I watched the silent world begin to wake. It truly was an amazing sight and I found myself not wanting to leave for fear of not being able to find it again.

It was only then that I realised how tired I was and allowed myself to fall onto the very edge of sleep, only vaguely worrying about what my friends would say when they found me missing. I found that I didn't really care, it was safe and warm up here and I had no desire to leave. I heard the bell sounding inside the castle but closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall into a blissful sleep.

_I was running along a corridor, something was chasing me, something I couldn't see but could sense. Someone ran to my right but, when I turned to look, there was no-one there. I gave a small shrug, I must be finally losing it. _

_I emerged into a big, arena-like building with people filling up the tiers of seats all around. Only, many of them weren't people. They were beasts, only a few I recognised, like Minotaur's and centaurs. In the centre, facing me, sat Luke, looking very pompous, blue eyes flashing as he began to speak._

"_I welcome all those here today to witness a very special event. You see, these are Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase and Hermione Granger. We cannot allow them to destroy all that we have worked so hard to achieve."_

_Turning to the right, I could see a brown haired, brown eyed boy of about my age with his hand wrapped around a pen which, even as I watched, elongated and turned into a sword. The girl was beautiful with ash-blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to be scrutinising the surroundings as if looking for an escape route._

_I was watching as if on a cloud, I could see myself taking my wand in one hand and a small dagger in the other, but I could also see Annabeth talking – pleading – with Luke. I was confused. What was like ordering our execution? He had seemed okay when I had last seen him, even though I didn't know him very well. And who were Percy and Annabeth? They seemed okay but had the same proud, haughty look that Luke always wore._

_He was talking again, "Two Greeks and a Roman actually conversing, much less becoming friends." He sneered cruelly and concluded, "You shall all witness what will happen to traitors."_

_The girl called Annabeth began to scream at him, "We're the traitors? Luke, look at you. You are going to take Chronos' soul into your body."_

"_I will be indestructible," Luke agreed, still sneering, "And no-one will be able to kill me."_

"_You're wrong," the boy called Percy snapped, "Someone will be able to kill you, the person you care about most in the world will be able to kill you."_

"_You have no idea who that it," Luke hissed, sounding assured but not liking the smirk that crept onto the corners of Percy's mouth._

"_Don't we?"_

"_You will die. Bring him in…_

**I'm sorry it is a short chapter, but I am leaving for London for the weekend and wanted to update before I left. See you all on my return, my faithful readers.**

**And thanks to everyone who has reviewed.**


	8. Hogsmede

**I am sorry to any of you who enjoyed my story **_**Muggle **_**but I have decided to stop writing it because it was getting too confusing. I may start it up again but make it less confusing after I have finished this story.**

**Now, onto my faithful reviewers…**

**Trivia 101 – Thanks for** **reviewing and I'm glad you like the story. In answer to your question, yes, McGonagall and Snape are aware but won't act on it unless instructed by Dumbledore.**

**Tsukiyo Tenshi – I will update as fast as I can and thank you for reviewing.**

**Simplewhiterose – If I'm honest, I hadn't thought about the dagger Hermione was holding as being Katoptris, but I think I will make it so. Thank you for the suggestion. Yes she was having one of the demi-god dreams. In one of the Percy Jackson books, they are down in the labyrinth underground and they find Luke just before he turns into Chronos – that was the image from the dream. In the end, Voldemort will face them, but it won't be for a long time yet. I am thinking of ending this story in their sixth year and writing another story for their seventh where they will fight Voldemort.**

**Hogsmede**

Luke:

From what I had learned about Draco since I had first met him, I knew that it took a lot a painstakingly hard-work to be able to see through his indifferent façade. As soon as we reached the empty but still very menacing Slytherin common room, he sank onto the chair closest to the fire and placed his head in his hands.

Still being unsure as to the workings of the Slytherins mind, I hovered uncertainly for a moment before Draco, sensing my presence, raised his head.

His eyes were thin and bloodshot, a stark contrast to the previously poised young man. Now he seemed weak and frail, and it scared me. If someone as cold and ruthless as Draco Malfoy could be turned into a blubbering mess at the mere thought of Lord Voldemort, what was I to do?

We regarded each other solemnly for a moment before he spoke, "If I could I would get out."

I was unsure as to why he was telling me this, when I clearly wanted to join his Dark Lord, but settled myself into the chair next to him all the same and watched him for a moment in silence.

"Why? Isn't it a great honour?"

"Honour?" He scoffed, turning to gaze into the fire and I thought he had forgotten my presence, but then he spoke again, "That's all anyone thinks about. Honour, it is but a word and yet it means so much to us."

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief, Draco Malfoy was sounding poetic. I almost laughed at the thought but bit it back just in time as he turned his tired eyes to mine again.

"He is all about killing mudbloods and muggles, but he is a half-blood himself. And he wants to get rid of half-breeds but he is working with werewolves and giants. He is a hypocrite and I _hate _him."

His voice suddenly turned spiteful and he took to staring unseeingly at his hands before he spoke again, "I want to tell Dumbledore, but he will harm my family if I do, and, even though I do not agree with the choices they have made, they are still my family. Luke, please don't join him. I…I see the way you look at Granger, like you have a secret that only you and her know. She may not think of you like that yet, but she cares about you – I can tell. If you truly care about her then you won't join the Dark Lord; it will ruin your life."

He stayed stock-still, waiting for a response that was never going to come. I heard rather than saw him turn his head in my direction, eyes narrowed in confusion, but I kept mine trained on a spot on the floor so that I could keep in the tears that threatened to flow.

"Luke..?"

"I do care about Hermione," I replied eventually, "And I would leave his service if I could, I have made some really bad mistakes. But I cannot turn back now, I'm sorry."

Without another word, I stole up to my dormitory and lay down on the bed, banishing all thoughts of the coming meeting from my mind, it would not do to dwell on things that could not be remedied.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I awoke bathed in a cold sweat, what had the dream meant? I heard a bell go off somewhere below me and, taking in my surroundings, I jumped up hurriedly. The sun was high up in the sky and on the grounds I could see Hagrid's third years beginning to make their way to the safe confines of the castle for what I could only assume was lunch. With my alarm clock still in my bedroom, it had failed to wake me and now I had missed the first four lessons of school.

I slowly made my way back into my dormitory, knowing that I had until the next bell rang to get to Potions, I had already missed four lessons, and there was no reason to rush. I heard my stomach grumble nosily and decided to get dressed quicker so that I would actually have time for lunch.

When I sat down, Harry and Ron gave me confused glances before shaking their heads, laughing silently at my dismal appearance.

"I woke up late," I muttered by way of excuse and they gave me deeply suspicious glances but accepted my words.

It must have been later than I thought because the bell to signal the end of lunch sounded and we had to make our hurried way to the dungeons.

Professor Slughorn entered and hs eyes swept the Slytherin-Gryffindor group before resting on me. He gave a slight smile that made his jowls quiver and nodded before saying in a loud clear voice, "Miss Granger, Professor Dumbledore requests your appearance in his office."

I exchanged a confused glance with my two male best friends before leaving. I took the journey to Dumbledore's office at a leisurely walk, plastering a grin onto my face if I saw anyone I knew, but inside I was shaking. Why had I been summoned to speak to the Headmaster?

Just as I came to a stop outside the office, I realised that I didn't know the password. I nearly kicked the ugly, stone gargoyles outside, but refrained from doing so as I heard footsteps coming towards me. Turning, I saw Jason.

I frowned, had he been sent to Dumbledore as well? He seemed just as confused as me, which meant that he had no idea what this meeting was about. I gave him a small frown, wondering if our parents had been hurt. No, if that was the case then Dumbledore would have contacted us himself.

"Sherbet Lemon," Jase murmured and the gargoyles jumped aside, giggling to each other and casting him barely-concealed glances. I rolled my eyes, determined to ignore them, and followed my brother up the stairs to the headmaster's office.

Upon entered, I immediately noticed that all of the portraits seemed to have been waiting for us and that Professors' McGonagall and Snape were already seated facing us. McGonagall gave me a withering glance and, with a pang, I realised that I had missed Transfiguration.

I gave her a grimace in reply and took the only available chair, leaving Jase to conjure one for himself. I was too nervous to speak, so Jase did it for me.

"What are we doing here sir?"

He directed the question at Dumbledore, but the headmaster just regarded him in silence for a moment before offering us a sherbet lemon. I refused but Jase accepted and sucked appreciatively while we waited.

"We," he indicated the other two Professors, "visited Pompeii yesterday."

I frowned, wondering where this was leading.

"Pompeii is the home to the Roman Gods and Goddesses – much like Mount Olympus is for Greeks."

Suddenly I understood. There were obviously Demi-gods in the school, but whom?

"A Prophecy was made by Professor Trelawney dictating how…well; maybe you should listen for yourselves."

He stood and took his pensieve down from the shelf above his head. He poked his wand into the silvery substance and stirred it for a moment. When he pulled it back out, a figure stood in the liquid, and she began to speak.

"_From the house of Roman and Greek, two mortal enemies by blood will meet. The Roman girl born in the mid of September 1979 while the boy born at the end of April 1978. A chance encounter, but one that will live through the ages until again they meet, and with her magic and his skill with the sword, none shall prevail. The only hope to destroy him forever lies in their hands and loyalty for all will need. The long-dead King of Gods will attempt to destroy the bond and only a child will be able to stop him."_

I sat transfixed as she disappeared back into the pensieve. It seemed that Jase mirrored my thoughts because he was also silent, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore.

"We know who the Roman is," McGonagall whispered eventually, "But maybe we should let them tell you themselves."

The fireplace in the office suddenly turned bright green, but then softened to a blue hue as a cloaked figure stepped out. He didn't look like a Wizard, but I knew that looks could be deceiving. Even so, he exuded an air of magic that I had never felt before. He had long black hair that was tied at the nape of his neck like Lucius Malfoy's. That thought made me cringe but I shook it from my mind immediately, he was _nothing _like Malfoy; he couldn't be. He had hard brown eyes that seemed to sparkle mischievously as he watched us silently.

After what seemed like an age, he turned from us to regard Dumbledore, "Are these them?"

His voice was clipped and had an air to it of someone who was used to being obeyed. It seemed that this man even cowed Dumbledore, who nodded meekly.

Suddenly I understood. He wasn't a Wizard; he was much, much more powerful. He was a God. Not any old God; he was the King of the Gods. He was Jupiter.

As if he had read my thoughts – which he most probably had – Jupiter turned to face me, a half-smile curling the corners of his lips as he said, "It has been a long time since I had any mortal children."

I paused. Mortal children? He was looking at us as if he knew us better than we knew ourselves. I was about to ask the question but closed my mouth, why ask when I already knew the answer?

I was a Demi-god. Even worse than that was the knowledge that I must have been the Roman Demi-god from the prophecy.

**XxX**

Ginny:

Ginny sighed to herself. Hermione had disappeared to Dumbledore's office during Potions and no-one had seen her since. I could even find her brother to ask him where she was, it was like they had both just vanished.

Gin shook her head and took her seat next to Ron and opposite Harry. She was gazing into space but, unfortunately for her, she happened to be staring – somewhat dreamily – at Harry, who was getting increasingly awkward.

"Gin, quit staring," Ron hissed eventually, saving his friend from further embarrassment, "I mean, we all know you fancy him, but you need to stop staring."

That snapped a nerve within Ginny and she gritted her teeth in frustration, she hadn't been doing anything wrong. She was determined to make it work with Hermione's brother, whatever the cost.

Before she could think more on it, Hermione and Jason appeared in the doorway to the Great Hall. Both seemed exceptionally weary, but their eyes were bright as if they knew a secret no-one else did.

Gin heard Ron and Harry muttering under their breaths about the seventh-year Slytherin and tried to ignore them as best she could without seeming rude. Why did she care if she seemed rude? She shook the thoughts from her mind and turned to the other two, giving them a wan smile as Hermione sat down.

"When are we next going to go to St Mungos?" Gin asked her, turning in her seat so she wouldn't have to see the annoyance in both Harry and Ron's faces.

"The after the Hogsmede visit," Hermione murmured back, taking a slice of toast but making no move to eat it. She was staring off into space, not seeming to notice the weird stares she was receiving.

"So Mione," Harry began before clearing his throat nervously as the girl turned to look at him, "What did Dumbledore want?"

Immediately the brunette snapped from her thoughts, staring at the other three Gryffindors as if she'd never seen them before. For a moment she didn't move, but then she abruptly stood, muttered an excuse, and left – presumably to go to the library.

"It must have been something serious," Ron murmured knowingly, nodding at the raised eyebrows of his best friend, "Otherwise she would have told us."

Harry rolled his eyes but said no more, content to let his thoughts drift in silence, ignoring the other two, who, in turn, were ignoring each other.

**XxX**

The next month passed in a blur and before Ginny knew it, the Hogsmede weekend was looming before her. It was sometime in early November, she never bothered with the exact date, preferring just to guess, but what she did know was that today was her _date _with Jason Granger.

Hermione had seemed withdrawn since that fateful visit to Dumbledore's office, and Ginny had met up with Jason a few times since then but he refused to tell her anything.

She came down early, only to find that the common room was packed with third-years getting ready for their first Hogsmede visit ever. Gin shook her head, smiling slightly and remembering a day two years ago when she had been just like that.

She was lost in her thoughts when Hermione emerged from her dormitory and she tried to gain Gin's attention for about five minutes before leaving, murmuring to Harry and Ron that she would meet them in the Three Broomsticks at one.

The two boys took this without comment but Gin knew that something was wrong; Hermione always spent Hogsmede with Harry and Ron. After all, they were the Golden Trio.

"I'll also see you at one," she murmured and before they could protest, she slipped away to make her lonely way to the small village.

As she was walking, she heard the beating of wings above her and turned to see a large, tawny-owl hovering above her. Without thinking, she took the letter from the owl's leg and opened it.

_Meet me by the Shrieking Shack in ten minutes_

It was unsigned but Gin knew who it was from, and she felt a thrill of something akin to expectation as she quickened her pace in order to not be late.

Even so, she was five minutes late and was surprised when there was no-one there. She pulled her cloak closer around her and was about to sit on a rock to wait, when a large hand clamped itself over her mouth. Before she could scream she was dragged down a side street and whirled around into the grinning face of Jason.

She was about to tell him off for scaring her, when suddenly his lips covered her own. She was so shocked that at first she didn't do anything. Wasn't it him who had said that he only wanted to be friends? Gin felt his disappointment as he began to pull away, but she put her arms around his neck and kissed him back, letting herself get lost in the mere feel of him.

She finally had to admit that she liked him. She liked him a lot; more than she had ever liked Harry. It wasn't love, no-where near, but she knew that she would do anything to keep them together, even if it meant that they had to keep their relationship a secret.

She was happy, and nothing could change that.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I left Gin, Harry and Ron in the common room, feeling slightly guilty for ditching them on the first Hogsmede visit of the year, and made my way to the Great Hall, where I was pulled into an empty classroom.

I knew who it was without looking and grinned happily at Luke when he took his hood off. He said nothing about where we were going but I trusted him completely, which shocked me greatly. I shook my head and grinned to myself before asking, "We are going to Hogsmede, right? I mean, I told Harry and Ron I'd meet them in the Three Broomsticks at one."

I thought I saw his lips tighten and his posture stiffen at my best friends names, but his voice was carefully controlled when he said, "Yes."

"Well, where..?"

He gently turned me to face him and put his fingers to my lips. I gasped slightly at the warmth that filled me at his touch, but he seemed to take it as rejection because he pulled away.

I sighed at the sudden loss of his touch but didn't say anything and allowed him to take me into a small tea-shop – called Madam Puddifoots. It seemed that there were couples snogging everywhere and I hoped that Luke wouldn't expect us to do the same.

It seemed that he didn't and we made pleasant conversation until half twelve, when we took our leave.

I grinned at him as we came to a stop outside The Three Broomsticks. He took my hand and raised it to his lips before kissing it softly. Then he turned and walked away, leaving me staring in confusion at his back. Gin and Jase came around the corner just as Luke disappeared around it. They both gave me their signature raised eyebrows but neither said anything as Jase took his leave and I led Gin into the pub.

Harry and Ron were already waiting so I couldn't grill Gin about her date with my brother, but that didn't mean I wouldn't later.

"So…" Ron began when we sat, "Where we you two today?"

"Around," I replied vaguely, ordering two butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta.

"In the bookshop?" Harry asked as if he knew the answer. I was about to say _no _but then realised that they probably wouldn't like me being friends with Luke, so at the last moment I nodded me head and took a large gulp of butterbeer.

"Should've guessed," Ron smirked, shaking his head. I gave a shaky laugh and quickly changed the subject.

"So, we need to meet Dumbledore in two hours – okay? – so that we can take his fireplace to St Mungos."

**XxX**

Luke:

I felt incredibly guilty for not telling Mione of my soon-to-come attempt to join the Dark Lords forces, or of my continued loyalty to the General. I only comforted myself with the thought that she probably had no idea who the General was and she would hate me if I worked for the Dark Lord – which I didn't want to happen.

I sighed and shook my head before entering the Hogs Head, ordering a firewhisky from the barman as I did so. Draco was sitting by the grubby window, lost in thought. Since I had seen him at his weakest, we hadn't mentioned that night and I had a hunch that he was trying to forget the whole thing.

He turned when he heard me approach and regarded me solemnly for a moment before gesturing for me to take the seat opposite me.

"How was your date?"

I started in surprise; he had known of my date with Mione? I sighed weakly and murmured, "Great."

"I won't tell anyone, you know? As I told you before, I don't believe in that stuff anymore. I still hate Potty, though."

I choked back my laughter and nodded silently at him, trying to keep the grin off my face. Draco seemed to see it anyway, but made no comment and instead gave a small cough to grab my attention and began to speak again.

"Father has warned me to brief you on what you are to do when you meet the Dark Lord."

He waited for my consent before continuing, "You are to wear a black cloak over your clothes – _which must not be muggle _– and you are to bow to him until he asks you to stand. You must only speak when spoken to, and he must be addressed as My Lord or Sir at all times."

"Is that all?" I asked drily once he paused for breath. I was shot a dirty look but he nodded all the same.

"Are you one of them?" I asked while sipping my drink. I pretended like it was just a casual question, but I was regarding him over the firewhisky as I spoke, noticing how he suddenly stiffened and stared at me in shock. Then he posture relaxed and he shook his head, muttering, "I'm due to be initiated on my birthday, but I will do all I can to get out and you should as well. If you care about Granger at all, then you will not go through with this."

I glanced around the pub to see if anyone was listening. Everyone apart from the barman didn't seem to be paying us any attention, but his eyes were fixed resolutely on me. He had long, dirty-white hair and astonishingly blue eyes. He looked just like Dumbledore, but they couldn't be related – could they?

I shook the notion away, dismissing it as stupid; everyone knew that Dumbledore had no living relatives.

"Come on," I murmured, slightly disturbed by the barman's unwavering glare, "Let's go to Hogwarts."

I deliberately didn't say anything in reply to his earlier statement. There was nothing he could do to stop me from joining Voldemort.

**XxX**

Aberforth:

Aberforth Dumbledore waited patiently as the two students left his pub. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly in concern and worry for the two of them. One had seemed to relish in joining he-who-must-not-be-named forces but wasn't being forced into it, while the other – Lucius Malfoy's son – was destined to become a Death Eater from birth but didn't want to.

The was only one way Aberforth could think of that young Draco Malfoy could get out, but that would mean damning the other – whoever he was – to Azkaban. There were many witnesses to his confession. Even though the two didn't seem to realise it, everyone in the pub had been listening.

He gave out a low growl before quickly shutting the pub – ignoring the angry protests – and stomping to Hogwarts. It was time he had a chat with his brother.

He was freezing by the time he reached the open, green gates – they were only open because it was Hogsmede visit – but he just pulled his cloak closer to his body and, ignoring the whispers that followed him from the students who had already returned, made his way up to the headmaster's office.

Albus made sure to tell him the password every time it was changed so he quickly murmured, "Fizzing whisbee," and took the stairs two at a time until he knocked on the door, trying to school his expression into one of nonchalance.

Aberforth entered his brother's office and sat in front of the desk, ignoring Albus' attempts at pleasant conversation and the offer of sweets – he always had had a sweet tooth.

"What do owe this visit?" Albus asked eventually with a slight sigh, Aberforth never visited unless it was of utmost importance, and sometimes no even them.

"I believe you have someone in your school who is planning to become a Death Eater…"

Aberforth related the whole incident from his pub to his brother and waited as calmly as he could for Albus' verdict. Eventually, he murmured, "I knew of young Mr Malfoy but Luke Castellan is a surprise. I have to ask you to leave this to me, brother. I will do what needs to be done."

Deeply satisfied, Aberforth exited the school for the last time in what he thought would be months. In reality, he would be returning much sooner than expected.

**XxX**

Hermione:

At quarter to three exactly, the four of us began to make our way out of the safe confines of The Three Broomsticks and into the blustery wind outside. I could see Luke and ferret-face – in other words, Malfoy – coming along the path but they seemed to be deep in conversation and Malfoy only gave us a terrified glance before they passed.

I thought I had been the only one to notice, but Harry gave us all a weirded-out glance and Gin muttered, "Did you see Malfoy, he looked utterly petrified. I though he had seen a basilisk but it wouldn't petrify him because he's even uglier than it is."

Harry and Ron both snorted at this and I tried to pull a sneer onto my face, but it must have looked pathetic because even Ron noticed – and that was saying something.

"What's up Mi?"

"I just think that maybe there is something bigger at work here," I murmured by way of reply, still staring at their backs.

"Sure there is," Ron shrugged, "He's soon gonna be a Death Eater – is that big enough for you?"

I sighed, deeply unsatisfied, but the castle had come into view so I hurriedly dropped the subject. We reached Dumbledore's office to see the barman of the Hogshead exiting. I frowned in confusion, I knew that Aberforth was Dumbledore's brother, but it was common knowledge that they hated each other.

I shook that thought from my mind and mindlessly stepped into the flickering green flames, emerging into the hospital moments later. We were quickly taken to the same room as before, only this time there was a short, squat woman lying on the bed, and there were more ingredients on the desk as well as in the compartments. I just hoped we wouldn't have to use a bezoar again.

I took the notebook and scrawled the woman's name – Angelina Hopkirk – at the top before setting it on the side again and turning to the other three.

"So, the ingredients we used before were Hellebore, Lovage, Mimbulus mimbletonia, Rue, and Valerian roots – right?"

At their hasty nods, I continued, "Has anyone done any more research. For some unknown reason – completely unlike me – I hadn't done any extra research and watched curiously as Gin extracted a piece of paper from her pocket.

"I liked your idea of using the opposite to pain and so I've got the ingredients for the Draught of peace potion. Okay, powdered moonstone, syrup of hellebore, powdered porcupine quills, valerian root and powdered unicorn hair. The valerian root and the hellebore are already in our potion, but the unicorn hair is incredibly rare, but the porcupine quills and the powdered moonstone are easy enough to acquire."

"That's great Gin," I praised, ignoring how her eyes flickered slightly to Harry's before flashing away again. If I wasn't mistaken – and I rarely was – she didn't even look hurt or offended that he hadn't praised her efforts.

I signalled to the youngest Weasley and she began to help me sift through the drawers in the desk. Before long we had the moonstone and ten porcupine quills placed in front of us. It wasn't surprising that there was no unicorn there, although I was slightly disappointed.

"Do we have any of the previous potion left?" I murmured while writing down the two new ingredients.

"Course," Gin replied, pointing it out.

Ron was given the task of powdering the moonstone, while Harry had to add the porcupine quills into the potion and stir until the moonstone was ready. Gin and I, meanwhile, were checking the behaviour of the cruciatus curse victim.

It almost looked like she was asleep, apart from the fact that he eyes were following our every move. Her face was oddly blank with no hint of anything there – no fear as to what we were doing, nor fascination as to why we were doing it.

"Ready," came Harry's voice from the furthest corner of the room and I quickly took the vial from his, holding my breath and hoping that it would work.

Gin held Angelina's head while the potion was tipped into her mouth and we waited with bated breath, but nothing happened.

I thought we may have succeeded when she sat up, but her face still had the odd blankness to it and she wasn't regarding us with any sort of interest. I gave a weak sigh, these ingredients were certainly correct, but it seemed like more we needed.

"Should we go?" Harry asked, glancing at me nervously, as if scared that I would blow up at him. I shook my head at him, calling Healer Snow as I did so. When the Healer entered, I asked quietly, "Is there any way you can get us a unicorn hair for our next visit?"

He nodded mutely and we were about to take our leave when he shouted, "Wait!" I turned back to face him and he suddenly became very self-conscious.

"Hermione…would you, possibly, like to…um…go out for dinner with me next week?"

I stared at him in shock for a moment, before nodding slowly, "That would be nice."

Damien quickly took his leave but my three best friends wouldn't let me leave.

"What do you want guys?" I pleaded whilst trying to sneak around Harry's arm. He just grabbed me and pushed me onto the bed where I couldn't move. Ron and Ginny came to either side, both grinning evilly as Gin demanded, "Ooh, who got herself a hot date?"

"You call him hot?" Ron asked in disgust while Harry nodded his agreement. I felt his arms loosen slightly around me and quickly sat up so that he slid onto the floor. Then I gave him an award-winning smile that would have rivalled one of Professor Lockhart's any day, and moved to the fireplace, where I quickly stated, "Hogwarts."

I tried to act cool and calm, but inside I was wondering when I could tell them about my heritage, or about my part in the coming war.

When could I tell them that I was a Demi-god?

**Because of how short the previous chapters have been, I decided to make this one extra-long – it is 4,920 words not including the author's notes. That is why it took me longer than usual to update. Sorry about that guys.**

**I am sorry to anyone who liked my first story – Muggle – but I decided that it was getting really confusing so I quit it. I may re-write it, however, and make it less confusion. If you think I should – or shouldn't – re-write it please tell me.**

**Again I must re-iterate, please read and review.**

**Thanks again **


	9. The Dark Lord

**I wanted to that Simplewhiterose because she is my twentieth reviewer. Yay **

**Thanks to all reviewers of the last chapter…**

**Simplewhiterose – This is set in the book where the Demi-gods save Mount Olympus – I can't remember what it's called. I know that Jason isn't in that book, but I decided to make him Hermione's brother because it may come in handy later on – I'm not sure yet. Percy and Annabeth will come in later, I'm not sure how much later, but they will definitely be there. I am going to make a chapter in both of their points of view. You'll have to wait to see if Draco becomes a Death Eater – mainly because I haven't decided yet. As to the question about whether Luke will be bad – isn't he bad in the actual books? This story may or may not have a happy ending – haven't decided, we'll see where it goes – but if it does have a sad ending, then the second story that I write about this will have a happy ending. I hate sad endings. Thanks for reviewing and please keep doing so.**

**Tsukiyo Tenshi – I totally agree, it's getting very tense. Please keep reviewing, I enjoy reading them, and I hope you continue to like the story.**

**The Dark Lord**

Hermione:

The next week passed in almost solitary confinement for me. I would eat in the Great Hall and go to lessons as required, but as soon as they were over, I would quickly make my way into a corner of the library where I couldn't be seen and I would work until about twelve at night, when I would go back to my dormitory and collapse, exhausted, on the bed. I barely saw Ron and Harry, but for once I didn't actually mind. They had become the new _hotties _of Gryffindor and, frankly, it was nauseating.

As Wednesday rolled around, I had completely forgotten about my date with Damien – I wasn't even sure what day we were supposed to meet. But when I got back to the dormitory to change for lunch, I saw a snow-white envelope resting comfortably on my pillow.

I picked it up but didn't recognise the extremely tidy handwriting. I flipped it over and began to read, _Hermione, I believe that you promised to go on a date with you. Meet me by the gates at exactly twelve o'clock. I'll be waiting._

_Damien._

I raised my eyebrows slightly at the bluntness of the letter but shook it off as Gin entered the room.

"Well, ready to go, the boys are waiting?"

"I can't," I murmured, tucking the letter into my beside table, "I'll see you later."

Without even giving her an explanation, I quickly raced out. It was two minutes to twelve so the letter must have been waiting for quite a while.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't like Damien like that, but he was sweet and he saw me as not just a bookworm. He looked at me the way Luke sometimes did. I shook thoughts of Luke from my mind and reached the gate bang on time.

Healer Snow was already waiting, a small smile on his handsome face. He held out an arm, which I took without hesitation, and we began to make our way to Hogsmede.

I had some misgivings about going to lunch with a guy I barely knew, but sometimes a girls' just gotta live in the moment.

"I was thinking," he murmured as we stopped outside a pub. Glancing up I saw the sign _Madam Puddifoots. _Damn, that brought thoughts of Luke to my mind, and they were the last thing I wanted to think. Damien didn't appear to notice my concern or misgivings because he dragged me none-too-gently into the pub and took me through another door.

This room already had some people in it, all sitting around the only table in the centre of the room. There were only three people there – aside from me and Damien – but they all had an air of superiority about them, and they were all male.

The one at the head of the table raised his head and smiled at me from under his bushy beard. He looked like a weird cross between Hagrid and Santa. The other two men both had long, flowing blond hair that made them look eerily like Lucius Malfoy.

"Aah, Hermione, I'm so glad you could join us."

"Wait," I began, getting more confused by the second. Damien had disappeared somewhere and now I was alone with three strangers. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am known by many names," the Hagrid-Santa look-a-like murmured, his eyes boring into mine, "But mainly I am known as Jupiter. These are my two brothers, Neptune and Pluto."

I felt like laughing – although that would have been highly inappropriate – Hagrid-Santa was my _father_. What's worse was that I had never met him before, that was just downright creepy. Before I could think up a witty retort, however, the door was opened again to admit Jase, looking extremely confused and awkward. He obviously had no idea what this was about either.

"I am your father."

I know; cliché or what? I mean, a God can surely think of something less like something in one of those awful – and I mean awful – American action movies.

"You're Jupiter," Jase said in a whisper, his eyes going as round as saucers as he took the seat next to Pluto – at least I think it was Pluto, Neptune and Pluto looked the same. I sat next to the other God and we both fell silent.

After a moment Jase raised his eyes to mine, a small smile on his face, "Is it just me or does he look like Hagrid and Santa combined?"

"I thought that," I agreed, giggling. I stopped as soon as Jupiter's eyes narrowed spitefully, "We didn't come here so that you could insult us. We came here to tell you that you, Hermione, _must _win that stupid competition-thing at your school."

"How do you know about that?" I demanded and the three actually cracked small smiles – they looked more like grimaces from where I was sitting.

"We are Gods," Neptune stated as if it meant nothing and I had to concede that it was a very good point.

"Anyway, the trip the four winners from each house take is to Camp Half-blood. This is a Camp for Greek Demi-gods and, according to the prophecy, a Greek and a Roman will be the two to stop Chronos for ever."

"What about me?" Jase asked, confusion etched onto his face, "Why am I here?"

"You must aid her in every way possible, help her to win, and then go undercover to the school and watch out for her, she is still your little sister."

Jase reached out and took my hand, squeezing it gently. I looked up at him, about to remind him that I could look after myself, but stopped at the look on his face. "I know you can look after yourself, Mione, but I prefer to do it. And, anyway, you can't use magic outside of school, I can."

I laughed shakily and nodded, murmuring an, "Okay," before turning my attention back to my father and giving him a small smile, "Thank you…father."

"Why did we not recognise you?" I asked the question that had been in my mind since he had told me who he was, "I mean, we saw you in Dumbledore's office."

"I can change my appearance at will," was the short response.

He just nodded as I stood and made my way to the door. Before Jase and I could leave, however, father said, "The final ingredient belongs to Dumbledore."

**XxX**

Luke:

I awoke on the 25th November, wondering why I felt so nervous. I tried to push it to the back of my mind, but found that I couldn't, something was going to happen today but I couldn't think what.

Before I could dwell on it further, the dark green hangings around my four-poster bed were pulled back roughly and I was staring into Draco's face.

I let out a tiny, very un-Luke-like squeal and he quickly drew back, frowning.

"What?" I demanded in annoyance and he raised his eyes to mine again.

"You better get dressed, we see the Dark Lord in an hour."

_That _was what had been at the back of my mind.

I found, to my surprise, that I wasn't scared of meeting the Dark Lord, but I was nervous about Hermione's reaction when – if – she found out. I would have to tell her, and soon, but I didn't want to see the disappointment in her eyes and the way she would say that she never wanted to see me again.

I violently shook thoughts of a certain brunette from my mind and nodded absentmindedly at the Slytherin in front of me. Draco left and I quickly changed into some black robes before meeting him in the Great Hall three quarters of an hour later.

He looked understandably nervous and only gave me a small nod before we took our leave. This encounter could either make or break me.

Draco led me around the side of the castle and towards the forbidden forest. He leant down and picked up a rusty old boot, holding it out for me to hold. I felt an unfamiliar tugging sensation on my naval and flashing lights before it was gone.

We were standing in a graveyard. The grass that curled around the sides of the graves was sparse because of the extremely chilly wind that blew through the gravestone. To our right was the stone figure of a hooded man with a long stick in his hand. The rest of the graves were normal pieces of stone but this one – belonging to a Tom Riddle – was just eerily creepy.

I had done my research and knew that Tom Riddle was the Dark Lords father, which meant that we must be in the graveyard in Little Hangleton.

As one there were lots of loud popping noises as the Death Eaters apparated. They moved themselves into a large circle and there was another pop as the Dark Lord himself apparated into the clearing they had made.

As one his followers knelt, Draco indicating for us to do the same. Fighting the rising bile in my throat at the thought of kneeling to this barely-human man, I lowered my gaze from his.

"Draco," Voldemort hissed and it was all I could do not to flinch at his voice, "Bring the half-blood to me."

The way he said _half-blood, _like I was less than he was, made me grit my teeth in fury, but I said nothing and followed the youngest Malfoy into the circle.

"Luke Castellan," he purred and I just gave him a tight nod in confirmation, murmuring "My Lord," so that he didn't question my loyalty.

"I believe that the General wished to join forces with me, help me defeat Potter and then I help him – and you – defeat the Gods of Olympus. Is that correct?"

"Yes, my Lord," I muttered, bowing again, "I hope you will consider his offer."

"I already have done," He snapped, ordering me to stand, "I will help, _if _I get Mount Olympus when the Gods are destroyed. I also wish to take Pompeii from the Roman Gods."

I started slightly at the mention of the Roman Gods – having been unaware that there were any – but nodded slightly and replied, "It can be done."

"In return," Voldemort interrupted as though I hadn't spoken, "Your _people _may decide what to do with the non-pure-blooded students at Hogwarts."

"Thank you, My Lord."

Voldemort nodded as a snake curled itself around his neck, flicking her poisonous tongue at me.

"I have a quest to prove your loyalty to me," he murmured, absentmindedly stroking her head, "Bring Potter's best friend and famous mudblood, Granger, to me. Do it by February at the latest."

Despite the slight tightness of my throat at the mention of Hermione, I nodded, "It shall be done."

Voldemort nodded, clearly pleased, and held out the rusty boot again for me and Draco to take.

**XxX**

"F***" I swore as soon as we reached the safe confines of our dormitory.

"You cannot go through with it," Draco snarled, "I've seen the way you look at her, and you know what the Dark Lord would do. He will _kill _her, Luke, and even if she escapes, then she will never look at you again, much less trust you."

"I know," I murmured, calming down ever so slightly, "But I'm too far into this, I cannot back away now. Please, don't try to stop me, or tell Hermione."

"I shall not tell Granger, but I can't promise to not try to stop you."

**XxX**

Draco:

Draco Malfoy quickly left Luke's company and began to make his hurried way to Dumbledore's office. He had been unsure for a while now as to what he should do about joining the Dark Lords service, but seeing Luke like that had made it clear for him.

He reached the stone gargoyles, realising that he didn't know the password. The gargoyles jumped aside straight away, however, and he raced up the spiral staircase, to hammer on Dumbledore's door.

Once it was opened, he collapsed in front of his desk.

"I knew you could come," the old man said knowingly, his bright blue eyes boring into Draco over his half-moon spectacles, "I believe you have something to tell me."

And so Draco did.

He told him everything since he had met Luke, how Luke was a half-blood (that was the only piece of news that seemed to surprise Dumbledore), how he was soon going to become a Death Eater, and how Granger's life was at risk.

"You knew about this," he accused once the story was finished.

"I had my suspicions," Dumbledore replied after a small pause, "But Luke being a half-blood is surprising – if not unwelcome – news."

Draco was confused at this, but decided to say nothing, and found himself watching Fawkes very interestedly so as to avoid looking at Dumbledore.

"What do you wish to do?"

"I wish to become a spy for you."

**XxX**

Dumbledore:

As soon as the young man left his room, Dumbledore sighed weakly and called Minerva and Severus to him. The two appeared after barely five minute and, for the second time in ten minutes, the story was repeated.

"You mean to say that Miss Granger and Mr Castellan will…" Minerva began, trailing off uncertainly.

"First things first," Snape interrupted, "We must call the Order. They will know what to do if Miss Granger's life is at stake.

"I do not think we should tell them of Mr Castellan's role in all of this, only of Mr Malfoys," McGonagall whispered, "If we do, then it could ruin the plan fate laid for us in regards to the prophecy."

"I agree," Dumbledore murmured, moving to his fireplace and sending a note to Molly Weasley through it.

Another five minutes passed in silence before the whole of the Order, including Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny, entered.

"Mr Malfoy…"

"Lucius?" Arthur interrupted in shock but all three Professors shook their heads.

"Mr _Draco _Malfoy came to me earlier and told me of certain _activities _that have happened today." Dumbledore related the whole of the story – leaving out the bits Minerva wanted him to – and once he'd finished there was a shocked silence.

Dumbledore glanced at Miss Granger and noticed how pale she seemed. He felt a pang of sympathy for the girl.

"What can we do?" Harry demanded quietly, "He's _not _going to hurt Hermione."

He reached over and took her hand in his and she, in turn, gave him a watery smile.

"While she is at Hogwarts I can protect her but for the Christmas holidays I…"

"She can't stay at Hogwarts," Ginny burst out, aghast, "She can't, she's supposed to be coming to ours."

Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape exchanged glances before they nodded, "Okay. We shall put the best protection we know of on the Burrow and I shall be dropping in regularly. Miss Granger,(she looked up in surprise upon hearing her name) I must ask you not to leave the house at all."

"Of course Professor." Then she stood abruptly, muttered a quick excuse, and left.

"Poor girl," Tonks whispered, her eyes fixed on the door through which Hermione had just disappeared. Then she turned to the other members of the Order and snapped, "I shall protect her with my lives."

"She is like a second daughter to me," Molly murmured while Arthur nodded his agreement, "We shall also protect her."

The other members voiced their convictions and soon all eyes turned to Snape, who suddenly seemed very nervous.

"Uh..well…I don't…"

He broke off at the murderous looks he was receiving and finally muttered, "Fine, I will also protect her."

**Isn't it so cute? Snape agreed to protect Hermione. I also love the fact that Draco is good, even if Luke isn't.**

**Do you love it? Hate it? Like it? Dislike it? Please review and let me know what you think**

**I will try and post the next chapter on Christmas say as it will be the Christmas chapter, but if not I will post it as close as I can to that date.**

**Thanks again to all my **_**amazing **_**reviewers and, to those who haven't reviewed, shame on you.**

**See you on Christmas. **


	10. Christmas

**Disclaimer: I do not – and never will – own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.**

**I'm posting a day early because I finished this chapter and had nothing better to do. I know it's sad that I'm that obsessed but oh well, there's nothing I can do about it.**

**I have decided that my fiftieth reviewer will have a chapter dedicated to them, so please review.**

**XxThe Solaris MaidenXx – Thank you and Hermione is one of my favourite characters so I wanted her to star in something. I hope you continue to read and review.**

**Simplewhiterose – I also love the Snape part, I wanted him to have a softer side **** I decided that Luke would have to kidnap Hermione on the spur of the moment; there was no plan to it. Most of the fanfics that I have read – mainly Dramione – have shown Draco as being evil so I wanted to make him good and in the end he will help Hermione. I can't answer your other questions – sorry – and you will have to read the story to find out. Thanks for reviewing and please keep reviewing.**

**Trivia 101 – I know, I think Ginny and Jason make such a cute couple. Please keep reading a reviewing. Thanks.**

**Tsukiyo Tenshi – Thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter.**

**Christmas**

Hermione:

I felt numb. I wasn't scared or anything, I was just numb. It had come as a shock. I mean, I had known that Voldemort wanted me dead because I was one of Harry's best friends and because I was a muggle-born or, as he so liked to put it, a _mudblood. _

I didn't know where I was going, only that I wanted to get away from everyone and just be alone. I sighed wearily, there was only one place where I could truly be alone, and that was the second place they'd look. The first, of course, would be the library so I was definitely not going there.

Suddenly I stopped, there was one place that no-one else knew about. One place where I could truly be alone and think about what was going on. I was going to the Burrow tomorrow, but for now I just wanted to be alone.

I made my solitary way to the Gryffindor common room, hoping that it was be empty because it was quite early. Fortunately it was and I was unhindered as I made my way to my room and then to the roof.

I settled down in the place I had before, watching as the sun peaked on the horizon, looking ultimately too cheerful to be a part of this world of pain and suffering.

I sighed, I knew I would have to leave eventually but it was so peaceful. I realised that I did want to talk to someone, I wanted to talk to Luke, but I no idea where he was.

"Hey," a quiet voice stated from behind me. I jumped up in horror, whirling around to face him. At first I was stunned into silence, but then I felt my feet beginning to slip. My mouth opened but I only let forth a small squeak.

He leaned out and grabbed me just as I fell, using the muscles in his arms to anchor me into place. My legs were hanging off the side and I tried to scrabble for a purchase on the smooth stone wall.

"Hold on Mione," Luke groaned, attempting to pull me up. I suddenly shot up, knocking him over. We both landed hard, me on top of him, and he let out a winded gasp.

"Sorry," I muttered, wondering how he had found me just as I had been wanting to talk to him. I was about to roll off but he held me there. I gulped, suddenly very aware of how close we were.

In a sudden rush of daring, I lowered my lips to his. He rolled me over until he was on top, placing his arms on either side of my head but he didn't pull away.

I didn't see any fireworks behind my closed eyelids or anything like that, but I definitely didn't want it to stop.

Finally he pulled back and we both sat up, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Sorry for what?" I asked, my heart stuttering in my chest. Did he regret it? Would he just leave me alone out here to ponder on what just happened?

"I'm sorry," he repeated, "I shouldn't have done that." And before I could do anything else, he stood up and left.

**XxX**

Luke:

I didn't want to leave; I wanted to stay with her and tell her that I would never hurt her, but the truth was that I probably would, and it would be easier to betray and kidnap her if I didn't care about her. The only problem was that it was too late, I already did care, and I was falling fast.

I swore under my breath as I made my way down from the roof: what the hell was I to do? I couldn't let what had just happened happen again, Mione would hate me forever.

Draco met me on my way to the common room, wherever he'd been had left him with a healthy and happy glow. I decided to not ask where he'd been and instead fell into step beside him, flashing him a small smile. He clearly saw right through my façade and dragged me into an empty classroom. As soon as we were away from prying eyes and pealed ears, he demanded, "What happened?"

"Nothing," I muttered, avoiding his eyes. Nevertheless, he saw straight through me again and just raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"You actually expect me to believe that?"

I just shrugged, taking a seat on the teacher's desk and raising my eyes to his.

"I kissed her."

My voice was quiet but echoed in the sudden silence. I dropped my head onto my chest again and sighed loudly.

"Look," he murmured eventually, "I know Slytherins are supposed to be cold, unfeeling and don't understand emotions, but I can tell that you really like her. I say go for it. Granger may just be a Gryffindor, but if you like her enough, go for it."

"But what about the Dark Lord?"

"Screw him," Draco shouted, raising his hands above his head to emphasise his point, "You are not his servant yet, don't make it so."

"You're right," I whispered, "I have to go."

Before he could say anything else, I quickly hopped down and raced out of the room, on a mission. I caught her just as she was about to say the password to open Gryffindor common room, but I quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her away.

She glanced up in surprise as she was pulled away and they filled with unshed tears. She quickly turned away but I had already seen them.

I wanted more than anything to be able to comfort her, but I didn't know what to say. I felt as hopeless as she felt alone, but I had never let that deter me before.

"Mione, I…"

"What?" she snapped, whirling back around and not even seeming to notice the tears that fell from her warm brown eyes, "I have nothing to say to you."

She tried to walk away but I held her tighter. She winced slightly and I released her. Instead of running away as I'd expected, she turned back again, eyes watching me, "Why are you here, Luke?"

"I came to say that I'm sorry…"

"I think we already covered that," she interrupted harshly but I spoke as if she hadn't.

"…I shouldn't have run away and I…"

I didn't know what to say, so I pulled her closer and kissed her passionately. It was our second kiss, but it felt like our first. Whereas that had been sweet and tender, this was fiery and loving. When I pulled back, I whispered, "Hermione Granger, will you go out with me?"

**XxX**

Harry:

"Where is she?"

Harry was standing in the Gryffindor common room, in front of Ginny, Ron, Fred and George – both of whom had been there for the Order meeting.

"We've looked everywhere," Ron murmured in defeat, "I know this is a lot to take in, but she wouldn't have left the castle, would she?"

"No," Ginny snapped, "Dumbledore would have stopped her. If she is kidnapped, not only will she be forced to spill Order secrets, she would not come back alive. Hermione isn't the Brightest Witch of the Age for nothing."

"Where is she?" Harry repeated, near to tears.

"Where's who?" Seamus asked as he and Dean came over, along with Lavender and Parvati, the latter of whom exclaimed, "Where's Hermione."

Harry raised his hand as if to say _that's who we're looking for, _but the others weren't paying them any attention anymore; their eyes were fixed resolutely on the Fat Lady.

"She's there," Dean murmured, pointing.

All eyes turned to the portrait hole, through which Hermione was clambering. All four Weasleys, plus Harry, breathed a sigh of relief.

"You okay?" Ron asked as she approached. Hermione nodded but said nothing, glancing at Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati, clearly not about to say anything while they were there. Huffing in annoyance, the four of them turned on their heels and stormed off to another corner of the common room, where they kept throwing dirty looks at the six Gryffindors by the fire.

"Look," Ginny murmured, "We know it's hard – learning that someone wants you dead…"

Hermione interrupted with a short bark of laughter, "Voldemort's wanted me dead since I was eleven, I don't think I really care about that anymore."

Ginny and Harry exchanged confused glances while Fred – or was it George – asked, "What made you so upset then?"

"I just want to know who, in this school, would hate me enough to want me dead. I know the Slytherins don't particularly like me, but to think that one of them would want me dead…"

She trailed off, lost in thought, and the others waited for her to continue. When it appeared that she wouldn't, the twins stood up and left, muttering that they had to tell Dumbledore that Hermione had returned.

"I met my father the other day," she murmured eventually, finally wrenching her gaze away from the fire and to her gobsmacked best friends.

"You've known him all your life," Ron answered carefully, afraid that she would blow up in his face. She didn't reply for almost five minutes, her eyes now on the window and the swirling wind outside.

"No."

"No what?"

Hermione sighed and resigned herself to a long night, knowing that they would have endless questions to ask her.

"You've heard of Demi-gods, right?"

When the other three murmured in agreement, she continued, "I found out yesterday that Jupiter – the Roman King of the Gods – is mine and Jase's father…"

"Then who's your muggle father?" Ron asked un-tactfully, frowning in confusion.

"My mother's husband; my step-father, take your pick."

"You're taking the mick," Harry exclaimed, causing the two youngest Weasley's to exchange befuddled glances.

"What does _taking the mick_ mean?" Ginny asked while Ron demanded, "Whose Mick?"

Both Hermione and Harry burst into laughter, shaking their heads with tears streaming down their faces. Finally, Hermione spoke for both of them, "It's just a muggle expression and no, Harry, I'm not taking you for idiots."

"But how are you a Demi-god?"

"I don't know but you know that meal I went on with Healer Snow?" The other three nodded. "He actually wanted to introduce me to father, Uncle Neptune and Uncle Pluto; it feels weird calling them that."

Harry frowned, there was something Hermione wasn't telling them, something big, and he was going to find out what it was.

"What did Dumbledore tell you that day during Potions when you had to see him?" He demanded, not going to let her change the subject or leave as she had before.

It seemed that this had no even crossed his best friends mind as she murmured, "He told me of my heritage but also of a prophecy regarding a child of Rome and a child of Greece. In other words, a Roman and a Greek Demi-god. Dumbledore believes that I am the Roman one, but he had no clue as to the other."

"Can we hear it?"

"_From the house of Roman and Greek, two mortal enemies by blood will meet. The Roman girl born in the mid of September 1979 while the boy born at the end of April 1978. A chance encounter, but one that will live through the ages until again they meet, and with her magic and his skill with the sword, none shall prevail. The only hope to destroy him forever lies in their hands and loyalty for all will need. The long-dead King of Gods will attempt to destroy the bond and only a child will be able to stop him."_

"Seriously," Ginny asked in awe, "That is so cool."

"At least one of us thinks that," Hermione snapped, turning away.

"Who do you suppose is the _him _it refers to?" Ron asked, cocking his head to one side as he regarding the others, "You don't think it's V…Voldemort do you?"

If the others were surprised by his use of the name, they made no sign or comment about it and continued with the conversation.

"No," Hermione mused, "I have done some…"

"Research," the other three chorused, eliciting a small smile from her. She hadn't smiled since receiving the news that Voldemort wanted her dead.

"Yes, I have done some research, and I believe that it refers to Chronos, the Greek version of Saturn, the King of the Gods before Zeus and his brothers killed him. Chronos is trying to destroy the Gods and make himself the ruler again."

"But what does this have to do with you?"

"I'm not sure, but it must be important. It has to be…"

**XxX**

Hermione:

"Mione, Mione, wake up," Gin yelled from somewhere to my left.

We had left Hogwarts a couple of days ago, and so far no-one had mentioned me being a Demi-god, or the fact that Voldemort was sending people after me. In fact, the only things that kept me from forgetting, was the Aurors surrounding the Burrow, the Order members that kept visiting, and the wards that sizzled into existence around the house whenever anyone apparated near to it.

"Don't wanna," I muttered in response to Gin's screaming.

"Aw, come on Mi. It's Christmas and it's snowing."

That was enough to get me out of bed. I had always loved the snow, ever since I was a little girl, and still enjoyed having snowball fights and generally having fun in the white powder.

"Ok," I muttered, "I'll meet you downstairs in ten minutes."

"You better," the fiery red-head warned, "Or I'm coming to find you."

I gave a small laugh and decided not to disappoint Ginny; I didn't really want to be on the receiving end of one of her famous bat-bogey hexes, even though we were not in school.

Exactly nine minutes fifty six seconds later, I was downstairs. I had dressed in a simple aqua-blue top, over which I had my white coat and navy jeans.

All of the Weasley's were home for Christmas, including Percy, much to his annoyance. I assumed it wasn't so much the fact that they wanted to come home, as the fact that Dumbledore said they had to in order to protect me. I hated that. I hated being so young and helpless, and at this moment in time I didn't even have my brother because he was staying at school for the holidays.

"We'll be back in two hours," Gin announced loudly, giving her mother a pointed glance. Molly nodded and shouted at our retreating backs, "Stay inside the perimeter."

We found Ron, Harry, Fred and George having a snowball fight out back and we joined in for about an hour, until we were all soaked and freezing. It was only then that we decided to head in to prevent from getting hypothermia. I heard a slight sound from the hill to our right and told the others to go ahead.

I wasn't surprised in the slightest to see Luke sitting on the snow below, staring out over the frozen lake in front of him. He seemed to be in such deep thoughts that he didn't even seem to notice me sit next to him.

"Hey," I whispered, slipping my cold hand into his and allowing him to warm them for me.

"Aren't you outside the protection of Weasley's house," he murmured.

"Yes," was my blunt reply, "But I wanted to see you."

He turned towards me, about to kiss me, but his eyes widened at something behind me. Before I could do anything other than give a small squeak of surprise, he launched me to one side and away from the spell that had been aimed at my back.

Turning, I saw a masked Death Eater standing there. Even as I watched, more apparated into view. I glanced upwards, wondering if I could get into the confines of the wards in time, but knew that I couldn't. It was too far.

"Well done Luke," the first Death Eater purred, nearing him and smiling sickeningly, "The Dark Lord will be please."

She said something else but I didn't hear it, my thoughts were on Luke. He was the one who must have been working for Voldemort, he had made me trust him and then thrust my heart back at me. Well, no more. I would survive this, and I would make him pay.

Luke must have seen my horror in my expression because he began to say something. The woman cut him off by sending a silencing spell his way. This confused me, why would she silence him if he was working for her?

"You actually thought he cared for you?" she laughed cruelly, "He could never care for a filthy mudblood such as yourself."

I was dragged up by two of the other Death Eaters and we dissaparated to God-only-knew-where.

**XxX**

Ginny:

"She said she was right behind us," Ginny muttered in disbelief as they watched the scene unfolding below them. They were too shocked to do anything other than watch as their best friend was about to be kidnapped before their very eyes.

Suddenly, Harry snapped into action, "Gin, go and get your parents and whoever else is there. Fred and George try and save Mione. Ron, you and I are going to go around and trap them on all sides."

They dispersed and Ginny began to run as fast as her short legs could carry her. Even though she was quite fit, she was breathing heavily by the time she reached the Burrow and she literally flew through the house until she reached the place where the Order was having a meeting. They broke off as soon as they saw her, red-faced and sweaty.

"Gin, what's going on? What happened?" Molly demanded immediately. Ginny felt like she was about to cry, but knew that she had to hold it in for Hermione's sake.

"It's Hermione," was all she could gasp. It was all she had to. Remus raced past, shouting for her to lead the way, and the others followed shortly.

The arrived too late. The last of the Death Eater's raised their hands in a farewell gesture before dissaperating just as Ron and Harry ran back in.

Everyone was silent.

Hermione had been kidnapped.

**XxX**

Luke:

She was going to hate me. Hermione was going to hate me because she thought that I had betrayed her. I hadn't. The truth was that I only wanted to talk to her, which was why I had gone to the Burrow in the first place. It seemed that Bellatrix Lestrange had known where I was going and had staged this little attack. She hated me.

"Luke," said a quiet voice at the door before it was pushed open.

I was in Malfoy Manor, where Hermione was also being imprisoned. I had been here for an hour already, trying to think of a way in which to save her, but I had come up blank so far.

Draco came in, nervously shutting the door behind him. The only reason he would be in this room was if he had come with a plan in which to save Mione. Otherwise, he would have left me alone.

"Well?" I asked eagerly as he sat on the bed, facing me, "You do have a plan, right?"

Still he didn't reply, watching me carefully.

"Yes," he murmured eventually, "But to do so we will need Hermione to trust you again and we need my mother and Dobby the house elf on our side. We'll go for Dobby first I think."

He raised his hand and clicked once, shouting, "Dobby."

It wasn't long before a trembling house elf stood on the carpet before them, "You are no longer Dobby's Master, but Dobby hears that Miss Hermione is in trouble, and Dobby will help you if you want to help her."

"We do, Dobby," Draco replied, kneeling down in front of the elf. I had always heard Lucius shouting at Draco about the _correct _treatment of house elves, but it appeared that the youngest Malfoy never heeded such things as that.

"Will you fetch my mother please."

Dobby saluted and dissaparated, apparating again moment later with the stunningly beautiful Narcissa Malfoy.

She raised her head into the air upon seeing the darkness of the room, and waved her wand to switch the lights on. I winced slightly in the sudden brightness but did not comment on it and instead watched as Draco explained something to her.

"For this plan to work, Dobby must convince her to trust Luke once more, and you must hurry, the Dark Lord is torturing her as we speak."

I felt my heard wrench painfully at that, but Draco took it all in his stride, nodding calmly to his mother.

"Will you distract father?"

The elderly woman nodded to her son and took her leave. Draco turned to Dobby, "Wait in Granger's cell for her to return. Do not act until I contact you."

The house elf also took his leave and finally Draco explained the plan to me.

"Dobby is going to wait for Granger to return. He is going to heal her and then tell her the truth. Once she has believed him, he is going to return here and mother is going to connect the floo network in the parlour to Dumbledore's office. Dobby is going to apparate with Granger into the parlour, where we are going to get her out."

I nodded once; making a move to stand, but Draco made a move to stop me, "Just be careful, okay?"

"Always am."

**XxX**

Hermione:

Darkness descended from the world of the living and into my room-if you could call it that. The timbers of the roof creaked and seemed to only be holding up by a thread. It seemed to be swaying around me, making me sway with it. The cell was chilly – even for January. The type of cold that seeped into your clothes and into your mind – making you think horrible thoughts of death and freedom.

I could almost see my breath steaming on the frozen glass as I peered out of my prison cell and into the dank corridors outside. My long, lank hair fell over my hazel-coloured eyes so I pushed it impatiently out of the way. Small flurries of snow kept dropping on my head from a hole in the roof, making me even colder than necessary. Stray strands of straw fluttered across the splintering floor. My teeth were chattering together, loud enough to wake the dead. My face felt like a block of ice and I couldn't smell anything bar the sweet scent of wet snow and fear. My fingers, as they touched the door, could only feel rough wood under calloused hands. I turned eyes to the wall where I could see a bucket full of urine and a mattress of straw, now too dank to sleep on. There were pictures hanging crooked on the wall. Now they were burnt and blackened by the long-gone fire that had set this place ablaze before we'd been imprisoned here. A chair sat in the corner of the room, the headboard bent and the seat punched in. A little doll lay next to me on the ground. A black face with beetling, sunken black eyes. Burnt hair now cut short. And a little pinafore with a sown-on overcoat. I picked her up, touching the coarse dress and smelling the smell I would never forget, the smell of death. With an inhuman cry I launched the doll at the wall and then turned my eyes away again with a moan of despair.

Through the window to outside small flakes were whirling past with no more sound than a whisper and no more purpose than I had here. Wind howled through otherwise silent passages and spoke to me. Muttering words of pain and death into my ears and making me lose all hope I ever had of leaving this place.. My knees, now pulled up to my chest, were white under the blackened timbers of the roof as I lay my head on them and listened to the steady bump of my heart through my clenched fist.

I didn't see but rather felt the sun rise into the sky and throw its weak, loving gaze over me. I could hear a commotion down the corridor as one of the guards-probably the blond one with the pansy, blue eyes and the fuzz on his chin from want of a beard-brought food to all the hungry inmates. I heard his steady tread as he came down towards me. But I could also hear another, heavier tread with him. Maybe this was a rare visitor but I couldn't make out what Blondie- as I had heard him called by other guards-or his friend was saying.

The stopped outside my door. I heard the key going into the lock and being turned, ever so slowly, in a clockwise direction. With a satisfying click the door was pushed forward, knocking me to the ground. I heard cruel laughter as Blondie stepped in and I felt the harsh kick of a boot in my stomach, which made me groan and roll onto my back. Blondie set the food down near the urine bucket and from the sloshing around he had displaced the bucket which now lay on its side with urine all over my food, if you could call it that, it was more like gruel.

I scrabbled on the floor in an attempt to salvage the food and Blondie laughed again but I paid him no attention. I had already been here for five days, and so far every day had been the same. They would give me my food in the morning, and then – at about three o'clock – they would take me into Malfoy Manor, which was just around the corner. I would be taken into a small, dingy room with only Voldemort for company and he would torture me for hours to try and find out anything about the Order of the Phoenix, but I hadn't told him anything. A couple of times he had even tried legilimency and, though he was good at it, Dumbledore himself had taught me occlumency and I could successfully push him out of my mind.

I had completely forgotten about the other pair of boots I had heard down the corridor and, as the door closed, I thought I was alone. How wrong I was.

"Look at you Granger," Malfoy sighed from behind me and I whirled around to sit on my heels watching him, "Look at what you've become."

He didn't call me a _mudblood _or anything else hurtful and I finally had the courage to ask, "Are you going to get me out of here."

I hadn't cried since being imprisoned, but that didn't stop the salty tears that flew easily down my face. I turned it from him so that he wouldn't see, but it appeared that he did anyway. Awkwardly, he sat beside me and pulled me to him, hugging me.

"Did Dobby tell you of Luke's part in all of this?" he asked after about five minutes of silence.

That's right, I almost forgot. Dobby had come to me on the day of my arrival, and told me the truth about what happened. At first I hadn't believed him, but it did sound like something Bellatrix Lestrange would do, and I would give anything for the simple fact that Luke hadn't betrayed me. Dobby had also said that they would get me out of there soon, but that hadn't happened yet.

As if reading my thoughts, Malfoy said, "It's taken longer than expected to get us connected to the floo network, I…" he paused, hesitating, but then he muttered in a rush, "I'm sorry, but if you ever tell anyone I said that, I will have you committed for insanity."

I laughed, raising my eyes to his and I nodded, "I won't and thank you Malfoy."

He nodded uncomfortably and helped me to walk to the door.

"Blondie," Malfoy commanded once we were there, "There's been a change of plan, take her to the parlour."

I guessed that this was part of the plan so I pretended like I didn't want to go and began to kick and scream, attempting to claw at his face. In the end he had to call for someone else and the four of us made our silent way to the massive parlour.

I could describe it, but that would waste time, so I won't.

Malfoy – Draco, whatever I should call him – dismissed the two guards and soon after, the door opened again and Mrs Malfoy and Luke entered. Mrs Malfoy gave me a small smile and, not caring that I was covered in urine and other filth, grabbed me into a hug, murmuring her sorry's a she did so.

Luke was next and the two Malfoy's quickly engaged in a conversation to give us some privacy.

"I'm sorry for thinking it was you who betrayed me," I murmured as he took the few steps over to me so enveloped me in a hug.

"No, I'm sorry that you had to go through that. If I could, I would make sure that no-one ever hurts you again, Mione."

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could do so, he quickly kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. When we both pulled back for air, the two Malfoy's were regarding us with interest. I blushed but Luke didn't seem to mind.

"Okay, Miss Granger, you have used the floo before, haven't you?" Mrs Malfoy asked nervously, handing me a bit of floor powder once I'd nodded confirmation.

"Thank you for your help," I murmured just before entering the green flames and yelling, "Dumbledore's office."

**XxX**

Luke:

"No, I'm sorry that you had to go through that. If I could, I would make sure that no-one ever hurts you again, Mione," I murmured after pulling back from the kiss.

I hoped I would be able to keep her from any pain, but that was so naïve and I didn't believe it for a second. Despite what I may have said, I still worked for the Dark Lord and the General, but I would still end up hurting her. I had to, it was my destiny.

I was going to make every second with the fiery Gryffindor count, and no-one could stop me. Narcissa pulled me from my thoughts by saying, "Okay, Miss Granger, you have used the floor before, haven't you?"

I nearly laughed loudly at that. Mione may be a muggle born, but she was best friends with Weasley, and he was most definitely a pureblood. It was clear that she had used the floo before as she nodded and said, "Thank you for your help." And then she was gone.

I would see her again, of that I was certain, but the next time we saw each other we may be on different sides of a battle field. Was it so bad to love your enemy? No, I wasn't in love; it was merely a strong attraction that was getting stronger by the second. It most definitely wasn't love.

"Luke."

Draco was right in front of me and I had been so deep into my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed. I nodded to him and moved to sit on the sofa, watching the two Malfoy's closely.

"Are you going to leave the Dark Lord?" Narcissa asked after a pause, "Draco is."

"I already have," Draco corrected rudely but then turned to face me.

"I cannot," was my quiet reply, "I will not. This is everything I have ever wanted, and more."

"Don't you care about Granger at all?" Draco demanded in exasperation.

"I do," I muttered, lowering my eyes from his, "But I cannot leave the General and the Dark Lord." I stood and made my way out of the room. In the doorway I paused and, turning back to them, asked, "Will you protect Hermione?"

"With my life," the youngest Malfoy replied without hesitation.

I nodded and took my leave, feeling as though a weight had left my chest.

**XxX**

Harry:

"She's been gone for five days," Harry snapped angrily.

The whole of the Order of the Phoenix were in Dumbledore's office, having been called there to hear

if any new news had been found about Hermione's whereabouts.

"Please tell me that _someone _has found _something."_

When no-one replied, he threw up his hands and was about to come up with a witty retort when the fireplace behind Dumbledore's office burned green and out tumbled the last person any of them had expected to see.

Hermione got shakily to her feet, wiped a hand across her sooty face, and said, "I'm back." And then she collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

Harry was the first to move, making his hurried way to her side and checking her pulse. She was still alive, but barely.

"We must get her to Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore demanded as Harry bundled his friend into his arms. She was so skinny and frail that he was afraid she would break if handled too roughly.

The Order followed him as she made his way from the office and to the hospital wing. Everyone turned to stare at the odd sight in confusion. It was known throughout the school that she had been kidnapped, but everyone had believed her to be dead. And now she was back, unconscious, in Harry Potter's arms and with a mix of Aurors, Weasleys, and Professor's following.

"What is it Albus?" Pomfrey demanded as she opened the door to admit them. Harry immediately took his best friend to the door at the back and laid her gently on the bed while Madam Pomfrey fussed around her.

"Out, out," she shrieked, waving her hand like a large, ugly bird.

"Can't we stay," Ginny whined, attempting to move to Hermione's side but being prevented from doing so by a very annoyed matron.

"I think not. Now, go to the Great Hall, eat, go to bed and then you can see her after breakfast."

"But…"

"No buts Gin," Harry murmured, "Madam Pomfrey is right."

The matron gave him a mistrustful glance but said no more as the three Gryffindors joined the Order in the Great Hall.

They took up a lot of the Gryffindor table and even a few Professors', such as McGonagall and Snape, were there as well. No-one else made any comment because by now everyone knew that Hermione had returned and was now lying, as though dead, in the hospital wing.

It seemed that everyone looked up as the Gryffindors entered but, upon seeing their glum faces, returned to their meals.

**XxX**

Dumbledore:

Dumbledore watched his odd band of followers from his seat at the Professors' table and he gave a sad smile: he had no doubt that Hermione would be physically fine. It was her mental health he was worried about.

The young Mr Malfoy had been giving him reports of what had been going on in the Manor while Miss Granger had been there, and none of it was good. This could seriously jeopardise the effectiveness of the Prophecy about Miss Granger and Mr Castellan.

He sighed; he could only hope that she would make a full recovery. And hope he did.

**XxX**

Hermione:

When I woke up it was all dark. I glanced around in confusion as the events of yesterday came back to me. If I was at Hogwarts, then why was it as dark as it was in the cell? I gave an involuntary shiver at that thought and attempted to remove it from my thoughts.

It was only then that I realised that I was in a warm bed with soft covers, not the hard, stone floor. And there were hangings preventing me from seeing anything else.

I pulled them to one side to see the bright lights of the hospital wing and the wintery sun slipping through the windows. Madam Pomfrey was just coming out of her office and, when she saw me, a massive grin split her elderly face.

"Miss Granger, you've been asleep for the best part of a week," she told me as she checked my pulse. "Mr and Miss Weasley and Mr Potter are coming to see you after breakfast," she informed me as she transfigured my hospital gown into the same clothes I had been wearing on Christmas, minus the winter coat, "But you are perfectly healthy and may go and see them in the Great Hall."

I nodded and, without answering, bounded out of the room, on my way to find my best friends. I passed no-one as I made my way there and stood framed in the doorway, watching as the Order conversed with the students and vice versa.

I saw Seamus nudge Harry and point at me and I was running. Harry stood up and twirling me around before grabbing me in a bone crushing hug. All conversation had died out and everyone was watching us. I felt déja-vu as Ron also stood and I went to shake his hand. It was like second year all over again when I had been petrified, except that this time I changed my mind at the last second and hugged him too before my attention was diverted by Ginny and I was forced to hug her too.

"Miss Granger," said a quiet voice from behind me and I whirled around to face Dumbledore, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Wotcha Hermione," Tonks beamed while Remus said, "Hope you're feeling better Hermione."

While all the others only watched me as if I would break, Hagrid had no such reservations. He grabbed me in a bone-crushing hug that lifted me off my feet and only placed me back again when I gasped, "My ribs Hagrid."

**XxX**

Jupiter:

Jupiter, Kings of the Gods, and his brothers, Pluto and Neptune, sat in their usual seats in their mansion in Pompeii, watching the scene that unfolded before them. The other Gods and Goddesses had been sent away while they conversed and now Pluto murmured, "Does she know of the horrors Luke Castellan will put her through before they are done?"

"Of course not," Jupiter snapped, feeling slightly sorry for his only daughter in his Roman form. Of course, he had Thalia Grace in his Roman form, and his son was Jason but this was his Roman daughter. His only Roman daughter.

Before they could ponder more on it, there was a loud knock on the door and it swung open on oiled hinges.

Framed in the doorway stood a pure-white centaur with a small brown beard on his chin. He wasn't smiling, why would he? He was effectively a Greek centaur and he was in Roman territory, but they had invited him here today and who was he to say no?

"My Lord?" he asked, kneeling down.

"Stand Chiron the centaur," Jupiter commanded, and Chiron did just that.

"We have called you here today because of a prophecy connecting both Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter. We cannot tell you the finer points of the prophecy, but that it involves Luke Castellan and my daughter, Hermione Granger."

Chiron was shocked into silence.

"But he…" he spluttered, "But he betrayed us, where would they have become acquainted?"

"At Hogwarts of course," Neptune snapped flippantly and in that instant Chiron knew that this was so much bigger than he had thought possible.

**Aah, we finally get to see Chiron but I'm afraid we won't see anyone else – or even our favourite centaur – for a little longer. Sorry about that.**

**An extra specially long chapter for my extra special readers. Merry Christmas guys and keep reviewing. I'm sorry if this chapter changed perspectives quite a lot, but that's what you get with a long chapter.**

**Luke and Hermione, don't they make the cutest couple ever? I think they do**

**Please read and review**

**Thank you**


	11. Balls and ball gowns

**Reviewers…**

**Trivia 101 – I love Snape so much and thanks for all of your reviews, I love them. I hope I updated chapter 10 soon enough for you, I wanted to update on Christmas day as it was the Christmas chapter, but I had to update sooner. This is kind of a random chapter because I felt like it, but I hope you like it all the same.**

**Simplewhiterose – Thanks for understanding why I can't answer your questions, I don't want to ruin the story. I believe that Draco is just misunderstood, and the story agrees with me. Hahaha. I was going to save the kiss for later, but I couldn't resist, they make such a cute couple. I will keep writing, two chapters in one day **** Thanks again for reviewing and please keep doing so.**

**Balls and ball gowns**

Hermione:

Harry, Ron, Ginny and I were sitting in the common room by the fireplace in our favourite armchairs. It seemed like the rest of Gryffindor had joined us as it was my first day out of the hospital wing and everyone had been given the day off lessons.

"You know," Harry said after a short pause, giving the rest of the common room a meaningful glance, "You never opened any presents."

"I kinda got kidnapped," I replied nonchalantly. I may have responded like I didn't care but, in reality, I didn't want to be reminded of that day.

I saw Harry's jaw tighten slightly and was about to apologise when he suddenly pulled out a badly wrapped gift. This seemed to be a cue for the others to do the same and soon I had a small pile of presents in front of me.

I have Ginny a confused glance as she placed hers on top and she laughed, "We couldn't have let our presents go to waste, could we?"

I laughed, suddenly inexplicably happy, and I hugged her to show how much it meant to me, but it seemed that they had another surprise as Lavender approached with a box in her hand.

"The whole of Gryffindor brought you something," she announced in a way that was so Lavender it made me giggle.

I silently took it from her and peeked inside. Sitting nestled in the cushion protection was a small plaque that read _Friends forever and always. _I felt tears prick the back of my eyes; it was so beautiful. I grinned, raising my eyes to theirs as I held the plaque in my hands, "Thank you."

**XxX**

Luke:

"She's okay?" I demanded of Draco.

We were in the Slytherin common room and Draco had left to check with Dumbledore if she was getting any better, only to be told that she had left earlier.

I felt slightly jealous that she hadn't even tried to find me, but I guess after all she'd been through, she didn't entirely trust me. I couldn't blame her, as much as I wanted to.

"Yeah," Draco replied as I stood, "Where are you going?"

"Somewhere," I mumbled vaguely before taking my leave and going to the one place I had felt true solitude, and also the place Hermione would look for me if she wanted to. The roof!

I sat down heavily, sighing, and placed my head on my arms, not willing to look at the group of students below.

They had come out only seconds after I had come up here. It was Potter and his band of faithful sidekicks, including Hermione, and the beast of jealousy raised its ugly head again.

They all looked so happy and carefree, and even Mione seemed to be attempting to smile and have fun also, but I could see through the ruse. There was something wrong, something that she didn't want to tell anyone.

I saw Potter notice this and take her to one side, but she shook her head emphatically and he left so that Weasley could join her.

They spoke for a moment but I was too far away to hear what they were saying. And then Weasley leant towards her, too close for comfort. Mione wouldn't stand for that, would she?

She jerked up, muttered an excuse and quickly left, leaving Weasley and the others looking even more bemused than usual – and that was saying something.

I didn't expect her to come and find me, but she did.

"Hey," she sat to my left, watching the scenery below, "I'm sorry."

I wasn't sure what she was apologising for, but didn't want to ask in case it ruined the mood. Instead I just murmured, "It wasn't your fault."

"Luke," her voice was so quiet, barely a breath and, turning, I saw her staring at me with an unreadable expression on her face.

"What?" I asked as she raised her lips to mine, kissing me passionately.

She pulled away after only a few moments and I found myself yearning for the physical contact, so I took her hand and raised it to my lips. She shivered, whether from delight or cold I couldn't tell, and gave me a winning smile, which I returned.

"It's cold," I murmured after a while, but made no move to stand. It was getting darker, but I didn't care.

"Yeah," she replied, clearly not caring either, "But I don't want to go it. If I go in, I have to face everyone."

"And that is such a bad thing?"

"Luke, I have to tell you something…"

That was never a good start. When a girl said that, you could tell that they were about to break up with you, and that was never a good thing. I didn't say this to her, however, and let her continue.

"You're going to think I'm crazy…"

Okay, so unless she was some psychotic murderer, she wasn't going to break up with me.

"…But I'm a Demi-god."

I was shocked into silence. She was a Demi-god, and she hadn't broken up with me after all. But the main thing was, _she was a Demi-god._

She seemed to take it by my silence that I didn't understand her.

"A Demi-god is…"

"I know," I interrupted quietly, "I know what a Demi-god is, but I didn't expect you to be one."

"Do you hate me?"

Her voice was quiet and scared, and I glanced down in shock. She stared back at me with her wide, brown eyes and I smiled, "I could never hate you."

"Good, because I could never hate you, either?" she replied, snuggling up into my side.

I wasn't so sure.

**XxX**

Dumbledore:

"I have an idea," Dumbledore told Professors McGonagall and Snape excitedly, ignoring their simultaneous groans at this revelation. After a few moments to see if he was joking – which he wasn't – Minerva demanded, "And what would this amazing idea be?"

"I'm glad you asked," Albus grinned, sitting on his desk, facing the two, "I want to arrange a yule ball to take place this Saturday – the 11th January."

"And why is this, such a great idea?" Severus asked in his usual, dry way, raising his eyebrows at the elderly headmaster. Snape was beginning to think that age had gone to Dumbledore's head.

"That's not the best part," Albus squealed – like a girl – before catching their confused glances and elaborating, "I want to bring Miss Granger and Mr Castellan closer together so that the prophecy will work. I want them to sing a duet."

"Wait," McGonagall whispered, holding up a hand, "Why is this, a good idea? They don't sing."

"How do you know?" The headmaster demanded childishly, jumping down from the desk and stomping his foot, "They could sing beautifully."

"I shall ask them to sing for me, and if it is good, they may sing at this ball. You, Minerva and Severus, must sort out everything for this ball. Enlist Miss Granger and the other prefects help if you wish."

The two professors stood and Dumbledore made one last request, "Will you send them up to me."

He only had to wait about five minutes before there was a timid knock on the door and it swung open to reveal the two students he had sent for.

"Has Professor McGonagall told you what you are here for?"

The two nodded simultaneously before taking the seats Minerva and Severus had just vacated.

"Can you sing?" Dumbledore asked, holding out some lyrics to the two students.

"I love this song," Hermione gushed while Luke just admitted that it was okay.

A twirl of the wand later, and music was added.

"Picture perfect memories

Scattered all around the floor

Reaching for the phone 'cause

I can't fight it anymore  
And I wonder if I

Ever cross your mind

For me it happens all the time  
It's a quarter after one

I'm all alone

And I need you now

Said I wouldn't call

But I've lost all control

And I need you now…"

"Good," was all that Dumbledore said before he dismissed the two.

**XxX**

Hermione:

"Ooh, a ball," Ginny squealed excitedly, grinning like a banshee and attempting to stand from her seat by the fire, but Harry placed a hand gently on her arm to keep her there and smiled, "Careful Gin."

"But it's so exciting," Gin whined, "Hey, Mione, should we ask the Professors if we can organise it?"

I laughed at seeing her so excited as I replied, "I already have. Their only wish was that we do it with the Slytherin prefects."

"Suddenly it doesn't seem so exciting," she muttered, sitting once more. I gave her a sympathetic glance and murmured, "We actually have a meeting with them in ten minutes. Harry, Ron, do you want to help?"

"And have to spend time with ferret-boy, I don't think so," Ron sneered but then his expression softened as he murmured, "Sorry Mione."

"It's cool," I said, fighting down the disappointment in my throat as I motioned for Gin to follow me out.

"He's so gonna ask you," Gin whispered as we made our way down to the fifth floor, "I can tell."

"Who, Ron?" I asked. This was the first I had heard that Ron was even remotely interested in me. Gin seemed to sense my scepticism, and nodded emphatically. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. If Ron asked me, would I be able to say no even though I was going out with Luke? Would Luke even want to go?

"You don't sound so happy," she muttered as we reached the empty classroom where we were supposed to meet McGonagall and the Slytherins.

I didn't have time to respond, however, because at that moment McGonagall and the Slytherins – including Luke – entered. I couldn't help but feel like that definitely sounded like a band: _McGonagall and the Slytherins. _I would definitely not see them.

"Aah, Miss Weasley, Miss Granger, you are here already, good, good. Mr Malfoy, Miss Parkinson, and Mr Castellan, please take a seat. Do I need to stress upon you the importance of this ball? You must be on your best behaviour, understand? This ball must go off without a hitch. Good luck."

As soon as she was gone, Parkinson turned her false smile into a sneer and turned to face us, "I have a plan, you two do the work and we watch you."

I glanced sideways at Luke and Malfoy. I had seen a different side of him than ever before, probably more than any other Gryffindor ever had, but did that mean he would rise to our defence? It appeared so.

"Pansy, seeing as you're not actually needed, why don't you go back to the common room and let myself and Luke handle this."

Gin seemed quite nervous that Malfoy was ordering Parkinson to leave, even if he was supposedly working for Dumbledore. I was certain that he was working as a spy for Dumbledore against Voldemort. Why else would he have saved my life?

"Right, we should get started," Malfoy began when no-one moved after Pansy left, "Weaslette, come over here and help me figure out decorations. Luke, Granger figure out a theme."

"I was thinking masked," I said as soon as they were out of earshot. I turned slightly away from him, embarrassed, he probably thought it was a terrible idea. But when he spoke, it melted my heart.

"And I'm thinking you're absolutely beautiful."

"Shh," I laughed, getting a weird glance from Gin and a surprisingly appraising one from Malfoy.

"I was wondering…" Now he seemed the nervous one, but I smiled at him to show him that he could tell me anything, "Will you go to the ball with me?"

That was what I'd been hoping he would ask me, but I gave Malfoy a quick glance and replied, "What about Malfoy and the other Slytherins?"

"It will be a masked ball."

"You like my idea?"

"Will you go with me?"

"Yes."

"Then I love your idea."

I beamed at him and whispered, "Thank you."

"Did you ask her already?" a lazy voice drawled from the other side of the room, and Malfoy sauntered over, "This doesn't mean I like you Granger."

"What's going on here?" Gin asked in exasperation, glowering at me in the hope that I would tell her. I didn't have to because Luke beat me to it, "I asked Mione to the ball."

Ginny squealed and hugged me while I distinctly heard Malfoy mutter, "I will never understand girls."

I turned on him, raising my eyebrows in a silent question. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn that Malfoy _blushed. _But I did know better, and his cheeks were back to normal in a second. As if to divert my attention from him, he asked, "Weaslette, who are you going with?"

"Give me a chance…"

"Hoping you'll go with Potter?" he asked snidely but before I could hex him into oblivion for that tactless comment, Luke hit him upside the head and snapped playfully, "No-one is mean to my girlfriends friends, okay?"

"To that I would have to say _ow,"_ was the only reply he received but it seemed to be enough because Luke nodded and I couldn't help but laugh at the effective way he handled the situation.

"So masked ball," Gin muttered to relieve the tension, "Come down to the hall an hour before the ball starts so that we can get it ready."

Without another word she left, and I shrugged at the two guys before following her, demanding to know what was wrong.

**XxX**

Ginny:

"Hey gorgeous," a voice murmured from behind Ginny as she stood by the lake. She whirled around the face the culprit, who raised his hands above his head and muttered, "Okay, that was cheesy, please don't hex me."

"_Very _cheesy," Gin agreed as Jason sat beside her. She put her head on his arm and asked as nonchalantly as she could, "So…are you planning on going to the ball?"

"I wasn't, why?" he asked nervously.

"Oh," she whispered in disappointment.

"I don't mind if you get another date," he quickly added, mistaking her sadness for the fact that she didn't want to go alone. The real fact was that she wanted to go with _him,_ but he had no way of knowing that so she wasn't going to push it. She would just not go.

"I have to go," she murmured after a while, trying to hold back her tears. He nodded once and let her practically run away from him.

She ran through practically the whole castle until she reached Gryffindor common room, and then she ran straight to her room, ignoring her best friends, who cried out to her in confusion.

That was where Hermione found her, crying her eyes out on her bed.

"What's wrong?" the older girl asked, although she had a very good idea. Gin seemed to think so, too, and abstained from replying. Let the brunette wait.

"Come on, Gin. My brother's an idiot, and I am going to make you look beautiful tomorrow."

"You mean you'd brave make-up for me?" the younger girl asked tearfully, turning to face her friend. Hermione nodded and replied, "I'd brave anything for you, Gin, and so would Harry and Ron. Look, the ball is in three hours and we do need to get ready before going down in two hours."

Gin nodded just as Hermione's giggly roommates entered, both grinning from ear to ear.

"Who are you two taking?" Lavender practically demanded, making herself at home on the edge of Ginny's bed.

Gin opened her mouth to say that she didn't have a date, but Hermione beat her to it, "It's a secret."

**XxX**

Hermione:

Both Gin and I wore cloaks over our dresses and didn't put on makeup while we did the hall, before rushing to the bathroom to quickly freshen up.

Once everyone had entered, including Gin, I stood by the doors, waiting for myself to be announced.

"Now," Dumbledore shouted after only a couple of minutes, "I have asked two students to sing us a song today, so if every could please leave the dance floor. Thank you."

The music started, it was one of my favourites – Hello by the Glee Cast.

"_I've been alone with you inside my mind _

_And in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times _

_I sometimes see you pass outside my door _

_Hello, is it me you're looking for?"_

I took a deep breath as I saw Luke turn towards the entrance, looking for me. I practically flowed into the hall, feeling like everyone was ogling me. I took a deep breath before singing the next few lines.

"_I can see it in your eyes I can see it in your smile _

_You're all I've ever wanted, and my arms are open wide _

_'Cause you know just what to say _

_And you know just what to do _

_And I want to tell you so much, I love you ..."_

He gave me a dazzling smile as we sung the rest of the song together, our voices harmonizing perfectly in the silence.

"_Oh yeah..._

_I long to see the sunlight in your hair _

_And tell you time and time again how much I care _

_Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow_

_Hello, I've just got to let you know _

_'Cause I wonder where you are_

_And I wonder what you do _

_Are you somewhere feeling lonely or is someone loving you?_

_Tell me how to win your heart_

_For I haven't got a clue_

_But let me start by saying ... I love you_

_Is it me you're looking for?'_

_Cause I wonder where you are _

_And I wonder what you do _

_Are you somewhere feeling lonely or is someone loving you? _

_Tell me how to win your heart_

_For I haven't got a clue But let me start by saying ... I love you."_

The whole hall was silent as he leaned towards me and planted a feather-light kiss on my lips. I wanted to pull him towards me, and I believe he wanted that too, but I couldn't. I had a job to do.

I turned to face the rest of the hall, noticing how every eye was on me. I gulped slightly before swishing my hand in the direction of the doors and announcing, "Jason Granger."

They opened and I grinned at my brother as he made his way over to Ginny; it was about time he told her how he felt.

"May I have this dance?" a cheeky voice asked from beside me.

I turned to face Luke and nodded, preparing for the best night of my life so far.

"You know," I said by way of conversation as he twirled me, "I must be so paranoid, I keep thinking that everyone is looking at me."

"Everyone is looking at you," he replied earnestly, "Because you are the most beautiful, stunning, girl at this ball, and you're mine."

I blushed lightly at his words but didn't reprimand him as he kissed me again, this time making it deeper and more intimate. It was just us in an empty ballroom; no-one else was there. And the best thing of all, no-one else could tell who we were because we were wearing masks.

It definitely was the best night of my life so far.

**I **_**hate **_**writing kissing scenes so if anyone has any advice, please tell me. **

**On a lighter note, two chapters in one day, are you proud of me or what? I mean, I have gone on a four-hour journey today and I'm a quick writer, so I got most of it done in the car.**

**Anyway, if you have a comment about this chapter please review, they are much appreciated. I have 28 reviews with no flamers yet, so thanks guys.**

**Merry Christmas again**_  
_


	12. The Tears of a Phoenix

**I may not be able to update for a long time because I'm going away for New Year and I don't know if there will be internet. Also, I have **_**six **_**exams in January so I am going to be revising for them. Sorry about that and I will update when I can.**

**xXThe Solaris MaidenXx – Thank you for your amazing review, and please continue to do so. I hope you like this chapter and continue to read. Thank you again.**

**Simplewhiterose – I hated the fact in Harry Potter that Draco is mean about muggle-borns so I thought I should make it so that, even though he doesn't actually like Hermione, he doesn't mind Luke going out with her. I had to put a Glee reference in there because I love Glee. If you like fanfics about Glee, then my friend, Jasmine – whose fanfic name is MuchFaberryLoveX – writes some really good ones. Luke is going to tell her he is a Demi-god soon, I'm not sure when yet. But it will probably be in the chapter after this. Thank you for reviewing and please continue to do so.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – Thanks for your review and for telling me who you think Harry is going out with. Soon everyone – like Ginny, Ron and Hermione – will also find out who his secret girlfriend is. Again, thanks for reviewing and I hope you continue to read the story.**

**The Tears of a Phoenix**

Hermione:

It was the day after the party and I was sitting by myself in the Gryffindor common room. Everyone else had gone to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmede for a few drinks and probably wouldn't be back for at least half an hour. Meanwhile, I was thinking about my father's words to me before I had left the Hogshead.

"The final ingredient belongs to Dumbledore."

I had decided that he was probably talking about our potion, but what belonged to Dumbledore that we couldn't get usually?

I had no idea what that could be, but I racked my brain all the same. Before I came up with an answer, however, Gin entered the common room.

"Come on, Mi, there's an Order meeting."

An Order meeting? Why hadn't I heard of this before? The Order of the _Phoenix _was having a meeting? A Phoenix, that must be the final ingredient, and from what I'd researched for extra credit, Phoenix tears had healing properties.

"Yes," I crowed, getting a weird glance from Ginny, who demanded, "What?"

"Oh, I'll explain later," I murmured, following her out.

It didn't seem like she wanted to talk as we made our way to Dumbledore's office, something was clearly wrong.

"It's not good news," she told me, although I'd already figured that out. I didn't say so, however, and allowed myself to be ushered inside.

All the Order was already there, except for Tonks and Kingsley – who were probably on some Auror mission. Everyone looked so sombre; even Fawkes looked like he wanted to cry.

"What's going on?" I asked; my voice loud in the silence. No-one replied; no-one even seemed to realise I was there.

I was about to reiterate the question, but Gin put her hand on my arm, smiling softly as she said, "Tonks and Kingsley…"

She trailed off and I suddenly understood.

"They're dead," I murmured, my voice barely more than a whisper in the silence, "How?"

It was only then that Dumbledore moved, he raised his eyes to mine and said, "They died on an Order mission, because of this, the Order is finished."

I stared at him in shock. We'd had casualties before, but no-one had ever mentioned quitting. Dumbledore had never seemed like a quitter before, and I was about to let him become one.

"Okay, I won't say this hasn't come as a shock…"

Every eye turned to mine, frowning in confusion and annoyance, but I continued.

"…They were good friends to all of us, but they wouldn't have wanted us to quit. We've had casualties before, but no-one has quit. You may want to quit, but I won't until Voldemort is brought down to size." I paused for breath and noticed how everyone's eyes had become as wide as saucers. They were silent for a long time, before Harry nodded resolutely.

"I agree, we can't stop now. If we stop, we die, and I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to die just yet."

"Me too," Gin whispered, putting her hand in my own.

I grinned at them, but it seemed that there was even more bad news.

"Remus was tortured like Neville's parents," Harry whispered, "He was tortured into madness."

I nodded, this could prove an opening.

"Okay," I muttered, "Professor, could I please borrow Fawkes and go to St Mungos?"

"Of course, but why?"

"I'd prefer to tell you afterwards," I told him, "Gin, Ron, Harry..?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Ron answered for all of them and as one, we stepped into the fireplace.

"So, what's this about, Mione?" Harry asked as we appeared in the same room as always, with Fawkes the Phoenix on my shoulder.

"I'll tell you later. Gin, go and get Remus. Ron, would you and Harry ask Damien if he managed to get the unicorn hair that I asked for?"

Once they'd all left, I quickly took the remaining potion that we had made last time we had visited, and then I sat down to wait.

I didn't have to wait long. It was only a few minutes later when Gin returned with Remus. He was stumbling absentmindedly and didn't even seem to realise that we were there.

"Lie him on the bed," I ordered quietly as the two boys returned with the unicorn hair. I quickly added it and turned to the Phoenix on my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Harry demanded as Fawkes jumped down and put his head over the potion.

"What do Phoenix tears do?" I asked cryptically as the first of the pearly liquid vanished into the potion, turning it a beautiful blue colour.

"Phoenix tears have healing powers," Harry murmured as Fawkes flew back onto my shoulder and I took the potion over to Lupin.

"Hear it goes," Ron murmured, frowning in nervousness as I pinched Remus' nose to force it to go down.

At first nothing happened and I felt an unfamiliar sinking sensation in my chest. For once, Hermione Granger, Brightest Witch of the Age, had failed at something. It was not a sensation I liked to feel.

I turned from them and smashed my fist into the wall in frustration. All of our preparation had been for naught. Or had it?

"You know you'll break your fist doing that," a weak voice said from behind me. I whirled around to stare in surprise at Remus, who was definitely back to normal.

We had succeeded.

"When does it need to be completed?" I asked, business-like, as the other three hugged our old Professor.

"In only a week's time," Gin replied, "How did you find out about the Phoenix tears?"

"Long story," I grinned, "Maybe I'll tell you some day."

**XxX**

Luke:

"Have you actually started on the assignment Dumbledore set us?" I asked Draco as we sat in front of the fire, "Because it's due today." We had been sitting here for the past fifteen minutes and Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle had joined us ten minutes ago.

"Actually yes," Pansy replied while Draco and I turned to look at her in surprise, "I _know, _but it is good, and we don't have time to come up with a new one."

"What is it?" Draco hissed in annoyance.

"Well, we decided to make the draught of living death but modify it so that it actually kills the victim."

"Do you want to get kicked out?" Draco demanded, practically foaming at the mouth.

"No," Pansy smirked, "But if the victim is given the antidote, which we have also made, then it will bring them back to life. It is more effective than the draught of living death because it actually kills its victim but if they are given the antidote within six months of taking the potion, then they will live again."

"This is a really good idea," I stated loudly, "How have you tested it?"

"On Death Eaters in Azkaban. We killed a few, but the results are _very _satisfactory."

I wrinkled my nose at the obvious glee in her voice. She clearly wanted to become a Death Eater, but didn't mind killing a few to get what she wanted.

"_Would everyone make their way to the Great Hall to decide on which groups will go on the trip."_

"Here it goes," I murmured, unconsciously repeating what Mione had said in St Mungos. Of course, I didn't know that so it didn't bother me as we made our way out of the dungeons.

"Wonder what Wonder-boy cooked up," Draco stated loudly as we neared the Great Hall, seeing Mione, Potter, Weasley and Weaslette ahead of us.

"Maybe he finally figured out how to kill the Dark Lord. Oh wait, him and Weasley don't have a brain between them."

"I thought you hated him," I whispered, earning a, "Shut up," from the youngest Malfoy. Potter whirled around and gave us a dirty look before following his three best friends. I felt slightly bad for Potter, but didn't dwell on it as we also entered the Great Hall.

The tables had been moved to the sides, to make room for a large stage where each group had to present their idea. McGonagall was giving everyone numbers as they entered, and that would be their order.

Our group got given number 13, and I couldn't help but feel slightly nervous at being given the _unlucky _number, but maybe it was only unlucky for muggles. Maybe Witches and Wizards felt differently.

We had to sit at our house table and once everyone was there the first group, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas stood to present their idea. It was stupid and appeared like the boys had just let the girls do whatever they wanted. As the two girls were the most gossip-driven girls in Hogwarts, their idea mainly consisted of who was going out with whom. Again I reiterate, stupid.

It didn't seem like five minutes before our number was called and I walked on trembling legs to the podium. I had never been nervous talking in front of great crowds of people before, but maybe it was the fact that all of these people were magical and, in their eyes, I was worse than a muggle because I wasn't even human. Of course, only a select number of people knew that I wasn't human, and that was how I liked to keep it.

"What is your idea?" Dumbledore asked from the teachers table at the front of the room.

I turned to Pansy and nodded my head slightly, indicating for her to speak. She gave me a dirty look but began anyway.

"Our idea was to make a potion much like the draught of living death, only it actually kills people…"

I tuned her out, watching the Professor's carefully. At first, all apart from Dumbledore and Snape appeared shock and slightly disgusted that Pansy would go to these lengths to win the competition. But then their expressions became appraising as she finished and gave them a smug smile before we took our seats again.

All I knew for certain was that we were going on the trip. It was obvious by their expressions.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I was waiting somewhat patiently at the Gryffindor table as number after number, group after group, had their turn and then returned to their seats. Finally number 24 was called, and I stood up, along with my group – minus Harry – to introduce our idea to the teachers.

"What is your idea?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes twinkling. He knew what our idea was; he just didn't know that we had succeeded.

"Our idea was to make a potion to cure those tortured into magic using the Cruciatus Curse," Gin explained while I quickly set up our equipment on the table I had conjured moments before.

Everyone began to murmur amongst themselves but a raised hand from Dumbledore stopped them. Once the hall was quiet once more, I poured some of our lavender-smelling potion into a small beaker and Ron explained what ingredients were in it.

I turned and nodded at the doors, which opened to admit Harry and Neville's parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom.

I quickly conjured up two beds for them to lie down on, while Harry left again and returned moments later with a cured Remus Lupin.

"How..?" McGonagall asked, staring at him in shock, "Remus..?"

Remus didn't say anything, however, and moved to stand next to Harry, completely silent. I turned to look and Neville, giving him a small smile, before tipping the potion down first Alice, and then Franks, neck.

At first nothing happened, but this time I wasn't scared that we had failed, because I knew we hadn't.

Suddenly, they both sat up, staring around in confusion, and then Alice's eyes travelled the length of the room to rest on her son. Neville jumped up with a yell and attacked both of his parents in a hug.

"That is our idea," Harry concluded, taking the notebook and placing it in front of Dumbledore, "And all of our notes are in there."

Dumbledore could only nod mutely as we took our places.

Everyone else went, and soon the headmaster rose to face the rest of us. All conversation ceased abruptly and Dumbledore began, "We have decided on our four winners. The first, from Hufflepuff, is Ernie MacMillan, Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley." There was polite applause from the Hufflepuffs, most of whom were jealous that they hadn't been chosen, and loud applause from the other houses – except Slytherin, obviously.

"The second, from Ravenclaw, is Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecomb, Michael Corner and Luna Lovegood." Again, there was polite applause from the Ravenclaws, while Cho was positively beaming with pride.

"The third, from Slytherin, is Draco Malfoy, Luke Castellan, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Pansy Parkinson." This time the Slytherins led the cheering for the most popular people in their house, while everyone else fell silent, feeling sorry for the unlucky few who had to go with them.

"Now I'm kind of hoping we won't be chosen," Ron hissed in my ear and I laughed, silently disagreeing with him as, if we did win, I would get to be with Luke.

"Last but not least, from Gryffindor, are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger."

We got the biggest applause of all, which I was slightly glad for, and revelled in. I turned to grin at my team-mates and they, in turn, smiled back.

"We will not tell you where we are heading, but you will be staying there for the rest of the year, and will need to pack your possessions tonight. You leave in the morning. Thank you to everyone who participated."

"So, where do you reckon we'll be going?" Gin asked.

I had an idea, but I hoped it wouldn't be correct. I didn't want it to be correct.


	13. Camp Half-Blood

**Percy and Annabeth are in this chapter, everyone. I hope you like it.**

**Now for my reviewers…**

**xXThe Solaris MaidenXx – Thank you for your amazing review and please keep on reviewing. I deliberately had Remus be tortured into madness so that he could be cured. I didn't want Tonks or Kingsley to die, but they will be in a later chapter. I probably won't make them come back to life, but this isn't the last you've seen of them. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Tsukiyo Tenshi – I wanted Albus to act in a way that no-one would expect, and I'm glad that came across in the chapter. I hope you like this new chapter and please continue reviewing.**

**Camp Half-Blood**

Percy:

As usual, the Camp was in uproar. Everyone was getting ready for the students of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, who were arriving later, but Percy couldn't help but feel that they would never be more ready. Annabeth was fretting over nothing, and shouting if anyone went anywhere near her, so they had begun to give her a wide berth. Chiron had a meeting with the Camp director, Mr D, and so they had vanished, leaving the Demi-gods to do it by themselves. And, to make matters worse, there was a rumour that a Roman Demi-god was coming to Camp with the Hogwarts students.

That couldn't be good.

"They arrive in five minutes," Annabeth fussed, coming over to him and, for once, looking like she wasn't about to blow up.

"Why are you so worked up?" Percy asked with a small laugh. It seemed that was the wrong thing to say because her grey eyes darkened angrily. Before she could begin to scream at him again, he quickly added, "I mean, you look like you need a break."

"I do," she agreed with a yawn, "I just feel like no-body is helping me, and I don't want Hogwarts to think badly of us."

Taking a glance around Camp, Percy had to admit that she was wrong. Everyone was helping, mostly scared of being on the wrong end of her sword, but they were laughing and joking as they cleared things up. They looked happier now that Annabeth had calmed down.

"They won't think badly of us," he murmured, pulling her into the cabin dedicated to his dad: Poseidon, God of the Sea.

"Sit," he ordered, pouring her a cup of hot chocolate and watching as she downed it in one.

Suddenly there was the sound of a horn being blown somewhere to the right. That horn signalled the arrival of Hogwarts, and Annabeth seemed agitated again.

"What if they don't like us?"

"Hey," he murmured, coming to sit in front of her and forcing her to look at him, "They will love us, what's not to love?"

She gave a tearful giggle and nodded at him, before taking his outstretched hand and allowing him to lead her outside.

The sight that greeted them was amazing. It seemed that, while he had been helping Annabeth, the rest of the Camp had finished their work and were now waiting upon the carriage that was making its way over the hill at the far end.

Percy remembered once seeing a TV program called Dr Who. In this program the main character – the Doctor – had a machine called the TARDIS and it was bigger inside than it was outside. This carriage was much the same. It was simple, plain, and looked like it had been plucked straight from the Victorian era. It was pulled by skeletal horses that Percy seemed to remember were called Thestrals. Inside there were sixteen children, who were all reclined comfortably in the cavernous space, as well as two teachers and one man that looked to be a mix between a man and a giant.

**XxX**

Hermione:

Camp Half-Blood, home to Greek Demi-gods from all over the world, was magnificent to look at. That was the only word I could think to describe it. It was, to all extents and purposes, magnificent.

There were eleven cabins in a semi-circle around the training ground, with Zeus and Hera's at the top and with the female Gods on the right, and the male Gods on the left. I noticed, with only mild surprise, that Hades didn't have a cabin. I paid this no heed and stared first at the mess hall, through which many Demi-gods were exiting, and then at the other building next to it which seemed to be where they housed meetings.

A centaur emerged from this building with another man that must have been the Camp director, Mr D. Dumbledore had had to stay at school because he was the headmaster, but we had Professors McGonagall and Snape to look after us during our stay. Why Dumbledore chose them I would never know, but it probably had something to do with the fact that they were the only two teachers who knew about me being a Roman Demi-god.

If I was honest to myself, then I had to admit that I was nervous. To all extents and purposes, I was a Roman stepping onto Greek territory for the first time in millennia – probably forever. They didn't even know that I was Roman, but they would find out soon enough. Of that I was sure.

"I am Chiron," the centaur stated loudly as we stepped off, and I instinctively moved to stand beside the Thestrals that led the carriage, gently stroking one of their noses. He blew on my hand and it tickled but I made no noise because Chiron was talking again.

"Before we can go to eat, you must be sorted into your cabins. I will call out a name and you must stand within this white circle," he waved his left hand and a pearly-white, almost-perfect circle drew itself on the ground. "A symbol will appear above your head and that will be the cabin you must stay in."

He paused for effect and Mr D put a scroll into his hand, glowering at us as he did so. I rolled my eyes; I had heard that he had a massive temper since he dad, Zeus, had banished him to the camp. I wasn't exactly interested in why he was banished, and so hadn't asked.

"Hannah Abbott."

A shaking Hannah slowly moved out of our protective circle and moved to stand within the other circle. At first nothing happened, but then a shining, silver owl appeared above her head.

"Aah yes, Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom," Chiron murmured as a beautiful girl with long, blond hair and steel-grey eyes beckoned her over. The girl was familiar somehow, though I couldn't place her face.

Chiron then paused for a long time. I thought it was for effect, but one look at his face dispelled that idea. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost, and not a very nice one. When he next spoke, his voice was strained and quiet, but he seemed to give all the Camp Half-Blood residents a warning look.

"Luke Castellan."

I wondered why all of them looked so horrified at that name. Luke wasn't so bad, was he? And he had only joined our school this year, so how did they know him? It was all a mystery, but one that would have to be solved at a later date.

Luke was sorted into the Hermes cabin, but they all shied away from him as though he had a disease.

I was too busy thinking about their odd behaviour to notice that the next six people had gone and now it was my turn. Harry pushed me forward slightly and I stumbled onto the circle.

It began to smoke, grey steam billowing out and both Chiron and Mr D stared at me in as much horror as they had stared at Luke. They knew.

"It happens all the time," Chiron murmured as though in a daze. He seemed even more surprised when a lightning-bolt appeared above my head, placing me in Zeus' cabin. Zeus had no children bar Thalia Grace at Camp Half-Blood, and she didn't appear very friendly.

Nevertheless, I moved over to her and waited while the rest were sorted. Harry got sorted into the Apollo cabin, while Gin got Aphrodite's, and Ron got Hephaestus'.

I followed Thalia as if in a daze, and soon found myself in Zeus' cabin. Thalia told me to be in the mess hall in an hour, and then she left. I rolled my eyes and began to explore.

There was a massive model of Zeus in the centre of the cabin and his eyes seemed to reach into the very corners, seeing everything. There was an alter in front of it, presumably for sacrifices, although I hoped it hadn't been used for a while. Apart from that, and Thalia's bed in the corner, there was nothing in there.

I slowly moved over to it, smiling at the pictures of Thalia and the blond girl from Athena's cabin. There were many of these and there was even one of Thalia, the blond girl, and Luke. So I had been right, Camp Half-blood did know Luke. I shook that thought away and accidently knocked a picture down. I bent to pick it up and cradled it in my hands, unable to put it back, eyes glued to it.

It was a picture of Thalia and my brother, Jason, when they were little. They were only about two and three but you could still tell that it was them. There was a little girl in front of both of them, grinning toothily at the camera and behind the three children stood my mother. That could only mean one thing. The small baby in the picture was me. Thalia was my half-sister. We had the same mum and dad, but from different era's. My dad was Roman, while hers was Greek.

"What are you doing?" A cold voice demanded from behind me, "Who said you could look at them?"

I didn't reply and instead showed her the picture.

"It was taken just before I was adopted. My mother put me up for adoption, but not my brother and sister. I had other brothers and sisters, but they were only my half-siblings and my step-dad didn't want to have three kids that weren't his."

I didn't say _I'm sorry, _that wouldn't have helped. Instead I watched her silently as she pinned it back up.

"I miss them."

Her voice was so quiet that at first I thought I had heard wrong, but then she turned to look at me and I saw the unshed tears in her eyes.

"I left when I was three, but I still miss them."

"Jason," I told her, indicating the small boy in the picture, "I know why I was placed into Zeus' cabin, and why the circle began to smoke. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Tell me."

She was quietly begging me to and so I did. I didn't know what compelled me to, but I found myself telling her all about finding out that I was a Roman Demi-god, and that Jase was also. I told her about the prophecy and the fact that the Greek Demi-god must have been at Camp Half-blood. Once I had finished, she was silent, watching me.

"This is Luke?"

I felt that I had to ask, even though I already knew. She nodded, smiling at the picture.

"That's Luke, Annabeth and me just before we came to Camp Half-blood."

They all seemed so happy, without a care in the world.

"What happened?"

"You've heard about someone stealing Zeus' lightning-bolt, right?"

I nodded, Luke had told me as much on one of our meeting-dates, though he seemed so sad I hadn't wanted to press him.

"Well, Luke stole it. He wanted to get it to Hades so he tricked Percy Jackson, Annabeth, and Grover the Satyr to take it down for him…"

The name Percy Jackson seemed familiar, just like the blond girl from outside had seemed familiar. Thalia didn't seem to realise that I was no longer paying attention, and she was still talking, " He failed, however, and as they were taking it to Mount Olympus, he cornered them and attempted to take it from them. He betrayed all of us that day, and I shall never forgive him."

That made sense as to why everyone had looked so murderous when they had seen him.

"Why would he even agree to come here?" she mused. It seemed like she had forgotten I was there, though I had to answer anyway.

"They didn't tell us where we were going, only that we would be here for the rest of the year. We have to find out what Luke is up to."

"How are we going to do that?"

"He is my boyfriend," I told her, ignoring how her head shot up in horror at that, "I will pretend to still want to go out with him, and then…" I trailed off, suddenly realising where I'd seen the blond girl and Percy before.

"What?" Thalia demanded nervously, frowning at me and reaching for the sword in her belt.

"I dreamt about Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase and Luke," I murmured, talking more to myself than to her." Before I could think about whether I wanted to tell her or not, I found myself recounting my dream.

"_I was running along a corridor, something was chasing me, something I couldn't see but could sense. Someone ran to my right but, when I turned to look, there was no-one there. I gave a small shrug, I must be finally losing it. _

_I emerged into a big, arena-like building with people filling up the tiers of seats all around. Only, many of them weren't people. They were beasts, only a few I recognised, like Minotaur's and centaurs. In the centre, facing me, sat Luke, looking very pompous, blue eyes flashing as he began to speak._

"_I welcome all those here today to witness a very special event. You see, these are Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase and Hermione Granger. We cannot allow them to destroy all that we have worked so hard to achieve."_

_Turning to the right, I could see a brown haired, brown eyed boy of about my age with his hand wrapped around a pen which, even as I watched, elongated and turned into a sword. The girl was beautiful with ash-blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to be scrutinising the surroundings as if looking for an escape route._

_I was watching as if on a cloud, I could see myself taking my wand in one hand and a small dagger in the other, but I could also see Annabeth talking – pleading – with Luke. I was confused. What was like ordering our execution? He had seemed okay when I had last seen him, even though I didn't know him very well. And who were Percy and Annabeth? They seemed okay but had the same proud, haughty look that Luke always wore._

_He was talking again, "Two Greeks and a Roman actually conversing, much less becoming friends." He sneered cruelly and concluded, "You shall all witness what will happen to traitors."_

_The girl called Annabeth began to scream at him, "We're the traitors? Luke, look at you. You are going to take Chronos' soul into your body."_

"_I will be indestructible," Luke agreed, still sneering, "And no-one will be able to kill me."_

"_You're wrong," the boy called Percy snapped, "Someone will be able to kill you, the person you care about most in the world will be able to kill you."_

"_You have no idea who that it," Luke hissed, sounding assured but not liking the smirk that crept onto the corners of Percy's mouth._

"_Don't we?"_

"_You will die. Bring him in…"_

Thalia was silent for ages after I had finished talking, and I was so nervous I couldn't sit still.

"Demi-gods often have dreams that will come to pass. They are a bit like seers, only what they see comes to them in dreams. The knife you described looked a lot like Katoptris, the dagger worn by Helen of Troy herself, but I'm not sure where you were. You should probably not tell anyone about this and just wait to see what happens. Okay?"

Just at that moment, a bell rang to signal dinner time and as we made our way to the mess hall, Thalia described to me what I would have to do.

"We each have certain tables that we have to sit at. Because we are in Zeus' cabin, we have to go to the one at the far end. We have to make an offer of our food to the Gods by throwing it into the fire over there." She pointed. "Once everyone has sat down again, we eat."

I nodded to show that I understood, and we entered. We were the last to enter, and quickly made our lonely way to the far end of the room.

**XxX**

Luke:

They all hated me; I could see it in their eyes. It seemed that Percy and Annabeth had told everyone what had happened, and that made them see me as a traitor. I wasn't angry at them. After all, they were only trying to save their camp. I was concerned, however, that Hermione would find out about my betrayal and that she would dump me. She was the only thing keeping me from turning fully to the Dark side. She was my anchor, in some ways, and I couldn't bear to lose her.

When she entered the mess hall and made her way with Thalia down to the very end, I gave a sigh of relief. She didn't seem to know what I'd done, and for that, I was grateful.

Everyone else was on tenterhooks around me, and it annoyed me no end. I couldn't tell them to stop, however, because I would be kicked out of camp.

"Hello," said a dreamy voice from next to me, and I turned to stare at Luna Lovegood. She smiled at me before sitting next to me. She had been placed in Athena's cabin, but no-one seemed to want to come anywhere near me and kick her out.

"I know why everyone hates you."

"You do, do you?" I asked, silently making fun of Loony Lovegood, the lunatic. When she turned to me, however, her eyes were crystal clear and sharp. She actually seemed to know what she was saying, and what it meant.

"You stole the lightning bolt."

I was surprised. She did seem to know a lot about my past.

"And you scared of Hermione finding out and leaving you."

"What are you, master of emotions," I quipped in annoyance.

"I think you should tell her everything," she said quietly before making her way back to her own table and leaving me with my thoughts.

With that in mind, I resolved to tell Hermione of my feelings tomorrow. Everything would be sorted out tomorrow.


	14. I love you

**Authors note: For any of my readers who are Dramione shippers, I have started a story about them called Big Girls Don't Cry and this is a small synopsis…**

**Set just after the war tore Hogwarts apart, Hermione Granger is set to make sure that it doesn't happen again, with the most unlikely of companions. Draco Malfoy is just concerned with keeping himself out of Azkaban. What will happen when business becomes more than that? Will they go against the expectations of their peers, or will it destroy them?**

**It only has three chapters at the moment so please bear with me but please give it a try and tell me if you like it, thank you.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you like the story. If you feel sorry for Luke in the last chapter, you will feel even more so in this chapter. Please keep reviewing.**

**Simplewhiterose – I spent ages trying to figure out how to get Hermione and Thalia to find out that they were sisters, and in the end I just wrote down the first thing that came to mind so I'm glad you like it. Happy New Year and there is Wi-Fi – obviously – but there is not a lot – only one bar. I will update as soon as possible but I have six exams in January so I have to revise for them, and we are going walking every day and things like that. Thanks for reviewing and please continue to do so. I hope you like this chapter.**

**xXThe Solaris MaidenXx – I'm glad you found it interesting and please keep reviewing, I love reading them.**

**Trivia 101 – Thanks for reading and reviewing, I'm glad you like it and I will update as soon as possible.**

**I love you**

Hermione:

I hadn't seen much more of Luke the rest of the evening. If I was honest with myself, I would admit that I was avoiding him. But of course, I wasn't being honest, so I just pretended that I had a lot on. Once he even asked if I could talk to him, but Thalia came over at that moment and introduced me to Annabeth and Percy, so I couldn't.

"Thanks," I muttered to her as Luke walked off. Annabeth and Percy were both watching me with interest and so I turned to glare at them.

"What?"

"I told them everything you told me," Thalia murmured.

"Should we go somewhere more private?"

The other three nodded and I quickly led the way to Zeus' cabin. Once safely inside and out of the way of prying eyes, Percy turned to me, "It's dangerous for you to continue seeing Luke. I can't force you to stop, obviously, but the prophecy that connects you and a Greek Demi-god will not include Luke."

"I agree," I told him, seeing my jaw. I didn't want to break up with him, but it had to be done. I thought that when he and Malfoy had saved my life, he wasn't working for Voldemort, but now I knew it was even worse. He was working for Chronos. He had obviously been trying to gain my trust in order to get me to tell him things about Harry so, as soon as I could, we were going to break up.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth murmured, but that just made me angry. I always hated it when people felt sorry for me, but I didn't say so, and just gave them a sad nod before taking my leave. I would have to do it now, or I wouldn't be able to ever do it.

"Hey," I whispered, approaching when he stood on the shore to the lake. It was really beautiful, but at that moment I didn't see that, I only saw him the night I had met him. A small twelve-year-old, frightened, not knowing what to do, but he still comforted me.

I took a deep breath, this was going to be the hardest thing I had ever done, but I had to do it. I had to.

"What's up?" he asked, turning to me with a bright grin that made my heart break inside.

"What's wrong?"

He could deduce my emotions even before I could. He probably knew me better than Harry and Ron did, but I had to stop letting my emotions rule my life. Let no-one say that Hermione Granger let anyone control her.

"Luke, we…"

My voice broke. I couldn't do this, I didn't want to do this, but I had to. He gently placed his palm on my cheek and forced me to look at him. He was about to kiss me, but I couldn't let him. That would ruin what I was about to do.

I quickly escaped from his clutches and turned so that my back was to him. He came closer and made my heart race just from his closeness.

"Don't…" I whispered, my voice trailing off again.

Suddenly it was as if a blanket had been removed from my eyes, and I could see him for the first time. I _had to _do this, and no-one was going to stop me.

"Luke, I can't do this anymore."

I mentally cringed at the words, how cliché did they sound? But I had already started and couldn't stop now. He opened his mouth to speak, but I whirled around and placed my finger on them so that he would let me finish.

"I can't go out with you anymore."

I wasn't going to tell him that it wasn't his fault, because it was, but I didn't want to tell him that it was his fault, either. So I stuck for saying, "I can't keep our relationship a secret."

"It doesn't have to be," he whispered, looking like a child that had been told that Christmas had been cancelled. He looked heartbroken.

"I'm sorry."

I began to walk away, refusing to let my tears fall, and to my back, he shouted, "Don't, Mione. I love you."

Finally I allowed myself to cry, the wet, salty tears falling from my eyes to splatter on my cheeks. Those were the words I had wanted him to say to me since we had started dating, but now it was too late.

Instead of turning and running back into his arms as I wanted to do, I continued to wall, my body racking with silent sobs.

**XxX**

Luke:

Did that actually just happen? I thought I meant as much to her as she did to me, but obviously not. I told her I loved her, and she continued to walk away. She didn't want our relationship to be a secret, then it didn't have to be, but that was a rubbish excuse. There was something else going on here, something she didn't want to tell me. Had she found someone else? Was I not good enough for her?

I gritted my teeth to prevent the tears from falling. If she wasn't going to cry, then neither would I. I was done with her, and I was done with Hogwarts. At the first time I could, I was going to join the Dark Lord's troops for good. I wasn't going to let emotions rule my life again, I would rather die.

I had given her everything, and she had spat on my heart as if it meant nothing to her. Well, now she meant nothing to me, and she never would again.

I didn't notice that Draco had joined me until I felt his hand on my arm. He didn't say anything as I turned towards him; he seemed to feel my anger and pain. Eventually I asked, "Did you want something?"

"The Dark Lord is waiting in the trees just outside the boarder. He wishes to have a word with you."

"Why?" I asked, not caring that I was being rude. Even if Draco told me – which he probably wouldn't – I would still go to him. He was my new master and I would serve him until I died.

"I don't know," he replied, although I could feel that he was lying. I was sick of people lying to me. Hermione had lied about caring for me, and now Draco was lying about what the Dark Lord wanted.

Instead of forcing him to tell me, which I wanted to do, I just nodded stiffly and followed as he made his way into the trees.

The Dark Lord, it seemed, had come by himself, and was standing under the shade of a large oak tree even though the sun had long since set. At his feet lay a large coffin, which was closed, and his wand was held tightly in his skeletal hand.

He looked up as we approached and ordered Draco to stand back while I approached.

"In a last bid to prove your loyalty to me, I must ask you to make the greatest sacrifice. I must ask you to connect your soul with our lords."

I had never heard the Dark Lord refer to anyone as our Lord, so he must have been strong. I knew deep inside who was in the coffin, but I hoped he would tell me otherwise. I didn't want to connect my soul with Chronos', no matter what Hermione had done.

"Think on it, Luke, and get back to me in exactly two weeks. I expect to hear from you at seven pm precisely."

Draco took my arm and led me away. Through the material of my cloak, I could feel that he was shaking, but whether he was shaking from fear or cold, I couldn't tell. I suspected it was the former, and was proved correct when he stopped in the exact place he had found me earlier.

"Don't, Luke."

That snapped my resolve. That was the exact word I had said to Hermione, only with her name on the end, and she had still walked away. I had told her I loved her, and she had still walked away. No longer.

"I am going to, but I want to exact some revenge on my little Mione first."

I thought I saw a flash of fear cross Draco's face, but he only asked, "What?"

**XxX**

Harry:

"I told him to tell her how he felt, but it seems that he was too late," Luna murmured as the two of them watched Hermione walk away from Luke. Harry was uncertain as to why his girlfriend had led him up here and shown their whole conversation.

He knew he should have been mad that Mione hadn't told him of her and Luke's _more than friendship, _but he wasn't. He had seen the distress in her eyes as she walked away, and Luna had filled him in on all that Luke had done.

If he was honest, then he was glad that Hermione had found out about Luke's betrayal of Camp Half-Blood before he did, so that he wouldn't be forced to tell her. He did know, however, that she would be distraught for the next few months and it would probably be better to leave her alone.

Banishing all thoughts of his best friend from his mind, he demanded, "Why did you show me that?"

Luna only shrugged, her eyes fixed on Malfoy and Luke below.

"How long have you know?"

"Not long," she replied cryptically and Harry knew that he wasn't going to get anything else from her if she didn't want to tell him, so he let it drop.

They were silent for another few minutes before she spoke again.

"Harry, I am scared of what Luke will do now that Hermione has broken up with him. I am scared that he will do something he will later regret. I heard him and Draco talking the other day, and he confessed that the only thing stopping him from joining the Dark Lord was Hermione."

Harry gasped and muttered, "Oh God." It was all he could think to say, but he had momentarily forgotten that he was at a Camp for Demi-gods.

There was a blinding flash of light and suddenly a man appeared in front of them. He was tall but not overly tall, thin but not skinny, and dark haired without having black hair. In one hand he held a pack of diet coca cola, and in the other he held an ornate staff with two snakes curled around it.

"Which God did you want to contact?" he asked, to Harry's utmost confusion. Luna laughed, which caused both men to turn to her.

"Harry, you said, _oh God. _This is Hermes, the messenger God. He thought that you wished to contact a God or Goddess and he asked you which one."

Harry looked embarrassed as Hermes nodded, smiled at him, and then murmured, "But I have been watching you as you have been watching my son, Luke Castellan, and Draco Malfoy."

"Your son?" Harry asked, the pieces clicking into place, "There is a Prophecy about Hermione Granger and a Greek Demi-god. Is Luke that Demi-god?"

"Very clever," Hermes said, nodding emphatically, "But Aphrodite does not particularly like Luke, so their lives may be a bit hectic. Be sure to stay close to your friend, never let her out of your sight."

There was another flash of light and he was gone as if he'd never even been there.

"You heard what he said," Luna murmured as the two of them made their way to bed.

**XxX**

Luke:

"Are you with me?" I demanded, first of Draco, and then of Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle. All four nodded, Draco slightly hesitantly, and I knew that if anyone was going to mess this up, it would be him.

"Sign your name here, and if you tell anyone, I'll know about it."

In truth, if they told anyone, they would have bright purple pimples adorning their forehead in the word _sneak. _It was a spell Hermione had shown me, and that made me even more inclined to use it. It was a secret she had made up, and now I was using it without her permission.

We were in the training arena in Camp Half-Blood. This arena looked like the Colosseum in ancient Roman times, but we had adopted it for our own purposes at Camp.

Draco waved his wand to put a charm on it so that anyone who wanted to enter, would suddenly find that they had something more pressing to do, and would leave. Then Crabbe and Goyle left, to return five minutes later dragging a bound Ron Weasley.

I grinned at the ginger-headed fool and said silkily, "You want to go out with Hermione Granger, am I correct?"

He nodded and it took all of my self-control not to glower at him. Instead, I stretched my face into a grin and said, "If you can get her, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth Chase to come here, then I will make sure that you get her."

The boy was such an idiot that he didn't even consider my proposal, and nodded immediately. I grinned as we let him go before I put my fingers to my lips and whistled. There was a slight rippling sensation in the middle on the arena, and suddenly a Cyclops was standing there, fully bound. There was no way that my three enemies were getting out of here alive. No way at all.

**XxX**

Hermione:

"I want to show you something," Annabeth murmured when I entered Zeus' cabin again. Thalia had gone somewhere, and now it was just me, her and Percy. It was clear from my face that I had been crying, but neither said anything about it, and led me out into the dark.

"You've heard of Helen of Troy, right?" Percy asked, getting an angry glare from Annabeth, who clearly wanted to tell me herself.

"Yeah," I muttered as we reached the weapons tent that was erected next to the Hephaestus cabin.

"Well, this belonged to her."

Annabeth disappeared for a moment and, when she reappeared, she gave me a beautiful knife. A knife I'd seen before. It was Katoptris, the knife from my dream. That could mean only one thing, Luke's betrayal was near.

"It's beautiful," I murmured, not bothering to tell them that this knife was in my dream. Instead, I just took the belt they gave me, put it on under my robes, and attached the knife to it.

At that moment Ron came rushing over to us, grinning widely.

"Are you Annabeth and Percy?"

Once they nodded, he continued, "Thalia said to tell you to meet her in the training arena now."

"Why?" Percy said the exact question that was on my mind.

"No idea," Ron muttered, but there was something in his eyes that made me pause. It looked a bit like guilt, and he was biting his bottom lip as he had the tendency to do when lying. Even though he had been my best friend since we were both eleven, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he was lying to me.

"Really?" I asked, searching his eyes again.

He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again at the look in my eyes. He kept eye contact so that I would know he was telling the complete truth as he murmured, "I do have no idea about what they want, but it is Luke, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson who actually want you to go to the arena, no Thalia."


	15. Chronos

**Tsukiyo Tenshi – Something very big happens in this chapter, but I can't tell you what because you have to read to find out, Hahaha. Thanks for reviewing, and please continue to read.**

**Simplewhiterose – I cried writing it. I didn't want them to break up, but it was crucial for the story. Thank you for calling me a wonderful writer, nobodies every said that to me before. Ron always was ignorant, and he hasn't had a massive part in the story so far, so I had to put him in. I love Ron, but he and Hermione just don't make a great couple. You don't have to read my Dramione fic, but I would really appreciate it if you did, so thank you. If you read it and like it, please tell me what you think and if I should continue because it only has three chapters so far.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – Thank you for reviewing and, in answer to your question, I wasn't planning on Harry being a demigod, but if you think he should be, then please tell me, and also tell me if you think he should be Greek or Roman, thanks. Please keep reading and reviewing.**

**Chronos**

Hermione:

"Who are they?" Annabeth asked in confusion, staring at Ron as if he'd grown an extra head, "And who are you?"

"Ron Weasley," Ron stuck his hand out for them to shake while I raised my eyebrows in derision.

"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson go to our school, but why would you try and get us to go to them?"

"He promised me something," Ron murmured dejectedly, "Something I want really bad. He said I could have it if I did this for him."

"What is this thing?" I demanded angrily, "That you would betray your best friend, and I thought Malfoy was on our side."

"What are we gonna do?" Percy murmured, turning to look at me and Annabeth. It seemed that neither had any idea so I took charge, "We are going to go there prepared for a fight, and we will come out alive." Then I turned to Ron and demanded, "Go and alert McGonagall and Snape to our predicament."

Ron nodded hurriedly and took his leave. Once we were alone once again I turned to the other two, "You don't have to go."

"Luke hates us as much as he hates you because he prevented him from getting Zeus' lightning bolt to Hades," Annabeth reminded me, "And anyway, we wouldn't leave you alone."

I smiled wanly at her before turning and making my way to the training arena. Once at the door, I hesitated. Did I really want to do this? Luke had every reason to hate me for what I did, but did I want to bring Annabeth and Percy into the equation?

As I peered into the packed stadium beyond, something came to the forefront of my mind. It was the dream I had recounted to Thalia about Annabeth, Percy and Luke. I was holding Katoptris then, as I was now, and Luke was sitting at the very end. My dream was about to become reality.

I took a deep breath, turned to the other two and opened my mouth to speak, but Annabeth interrupted by pushing me in. They followed and, as soon as we were there, bars descended over the entrance so that we could not escape.

"Aah, friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate the death of the three people I hate most in the world," Luke began as if he were at a wedding and not planning our funeral. I saw, to the right of him, Malfoy standing ramrod straight and staring straight ahead but his eyes were on mine. His face was, as usual, impassive, but his eyes were expressive. The two forefront emotions was regret that he hadn't stopped Luke, and guilt that we were about to die.

"Bring in Ethan Rust."

The door in front of us opened to admit a small boy of about twelve. He was trying to look big and scary, but in reality, he was only a little boy. He was dressed in armour that only a fully-grown man should wear, and his eyes were roaming this way and that as if he was begging for a way out.

I knelt before him and looked into his scared eyes before murmured, "Ethan, do you want to fight?"

A terrified shake of the head was my only answer and I rose angrily to stare at Luke, "I didn't think you could stoop any lower, Luke. First you work for Voldemort, now you are making little children do your bidding."

**XxX**

Luke:

She knew. How could she know about me and the Dark Lord? That was probably why she broke up with me, not the excuse she made up about how she didn't want us to be a secret. What have I done? I've pushed away the one person I have ever loved, and there is no-way she can survive when Big Mama, the Cyclops, enters. Is there any way I can save her? If it's the last time I see her, I don't want her to hate me as much as she does now.

"Bring in Big Mama," I ordered and the assortment of beasts on the surrounding tiers let forth a crescendo of shouts. I turned to Draco as the gates began to slowly open.

"Make sure that the gate is kept open after the Cyclops is released. That way, if need be, they can escape."

Draco nodded and quickly left to do my bidding. Pansy came up to me once my right flank was empty and sat on my lap, rubbing her fingers in my hair. I saw Mione's eyes flash dangerous with what could only be taken as jealousy so I didn't stop her. Mione could have had me, but she didn't. That was her own fault.

Pansy lowered her lips to mine and I closed my eyes, keeping a picture of Hermione in my head so that I could pretend it was Parkinson. They kissed so differently that it didn't work and I soon found myself pushing her away.

I turned my eyes to Hermione, noticing the look of hurt on her face before she made it vanish behind an imposing mask. I felt a twinge of guilt as she turned to look at Annabeth, nodding slightly. Annabeth pulled out her sword, while Percy pulled out a simple pen. I growled low in my throat as he clicked it and riptide elongated into a massive, ornate sword.

Everyone's attention was diverted to the same gate that Ethan had entered by and there was a shout of, "Food."

It was deep and reverberated into the very fabric of the arena. Big Mama stumbled in, her one eye roaming in her head as she searched for her first victim.

I knew in that moment that they would be hard pressed to get out of there alive. I also knew that I didn't want them to get out alive.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I pulled Ethan close to me as Big Mama – what sort of a name is that? – came in, grinning stupidly and floundering in the enclosed space.

Annabeth, Percy and I split and made our way to different sides of the arena. While the other two had swords, I only had Katoptris, a small dagger, so, while they distracted her, I searched for a way out.

Suddenly I saw it.

Above Big Mama's head there was a length of rope that helped to keep the roof up. It seemed to be long enough to wrap around the Cyclops without making the roof collapsed. Meanwhile, we could escape through the door to the back, which they had forgotten to close.

I nodded to the other two, and then to the rope, before pushing Ethan over to Annabeth and moving over to the wall. Big Mama flailed out a hand and, while her attention was on Percy, I grabbed onto the shape-less mass and pulled myself up, before jumping and landing on her head. I raised Katoptris over my head and began to hack at the rope. It didn't want to come undone and I was slipping by the second.

Through the corner of my eye, I saw Luke leave but couldn't dwell on it further as the Cyclops suddenly grabbed my leg. The good news was that, with my falling, the rope finally came undone and spiralled down over her head, trapping her arms by her sides. The bad news was that my leg was in her hand and I felt the bones crunching painfully against one another as she dropped me.

I didn't scream though the pain was excruciating, and only managed to drag myself out of the way as Big Mama fell to the ground with an almighty crash.

I bit onto the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming, and dragged myself over to the door, falling through it and at Percy, Annabeth and Ethan's feet.

"Are you okay?" was the first thing Annabeth said to me and I gave her an incredulous look as if to say _are you kidding me? _And she finally conceded, "Okay, okay, you're not okay. Percy, could you help her up while I take Ethan."

Then we heard voices down the hall and, at a near-crawl, we made our way over there so that we could see and hear.

"Don't do this," a quiet voice – Malfoy – whispered into Luke's ear while a tall man with a cloak hiding his face, watched the two of them.

"I have to," came Luke's strong voice as he stepped forward. The hooded figure waved his hand and a coffin materialised in front of them.

Malfoy began to slowly back away, his eyes fixed on the ghost-like fragment in the box. It was whole except for one small piece where the heart should have been.

The hooded figure began to chant, his voice rising to a crescendo, "Take this sacrifice of a body into your own and make yourself whole again. With the help of all you hold dear, destroy Mount Olympus. Chronos, our Lord, stand strong. Take this mortal body into your own. Luke Castellan, do you pledge yourself to Chronos, our Lord?"

Luke bent on one knee by the coffin and bowed his head, "I do, my Lord."

At his words, there was a tremendous gust of wind and suddenly the body in the coffin rose up, engulfing Luke in a golden haze as it vanished into his body. There was a burst of brilliant white light and the coffin disappeared.

Luke slowly rose and opened his eyes to the hooded figure's – Voldemort – and he said in a monotonous voice, "I pledge on all that is I to do all that I can in the name of My Lord."

He looked the same – if a bit cold – except for his eyes, which were a brilliant gold.

Luke had fused his body with Chronos'. His body was no longer his own.

**XxX**

Harry:

Ron rushed up to where he sat with Ginny, panting heavily. His eyes were wide and scared.

"Mione…Luke…danger…" he panted but Harry couldn't understand him.

"Whoa, calm down," Ginny commanded, "Breath. Tell us what happened."

So Ron did. He recounted how Luke had promised him Hermione if he brought her, Annabeth and Percy to him. He recounted how Mione had deduced what was happened in an instant. And he recounted how they had left to face unknown perils.

"We have to tell McGonagall," was Ginny's first words and she ran off to do just that, leaving the two friends alone.

Harry was refusing to look at Ron, his anger clear in his very demeanour, but before he could say anything, McGonagall, Snape and the centaur, Chiron, had returned.

"We must ask you to stay here…" McGonagall began but all three teenagers shook their heads emphatically and Harry spoke, "She is our best friend, we will not sit by and let him hurt her." Before any of the adults could respond, they had already set off.

They arrived at the gate just as Big Mama fell to the ground, helpless, and they saw Annabeth, Percy, Hermione and a small kid disappear around the side.

"They are safe," Chiron murmured as, as one, the monsters that lined the sides of the arena disappeared and the gate that prevented them from going in was slowly retracted.

Big Mama gave them one final look of loathing before she vanished into fine powder and littered the floor, and the six of them quickly made their way through the door opposite. They were cautious, worried of what they might find, but they hurried nonetheless, knowing that if they arrived too late, there may not be anything left to find.

They could hear quiet voices from ahead, but the sight that greeted them when they turned the corner would have been comic if not for the tears streaming down Hermione's face. Annabeth Chase had her arm around a little boys shoulder, and she was holding him close, as though scared he would disappear, although no-one had seen him before. Percy Jackson was half-standing, half-sitting next to Hermione, his hand outstretched as if to pat her on the shoulder; though he was keeping it poised as if scared she would shout at him. Hermione was sitting with her back against the wall, clear droplets of water streaming down her cheeks. She didn't try to hide it, but let everyone see the distress on her face.

Before he knew it, Harry had pushed Percy out of the way and was kneeling beside his best friend, his arm around her shoulders. Ron and Ginny came soon after, and McGonagall and Snape stood awkwardly to one side while Chiron moved over to Annabeth and began to converse with her and the small boy.

"What happened?" was the first thing anyone asked, and it just so happened to be completely dense Ron.

"Well, apart from the fact that she nearly died…" Ginny snapped sarcastically, hitting him upside of the head.

He let out a small yelp and moved so that Harry was between them, muttering, "Violent woman."

Hermione gave a short giggle, but then her expression became sombre once again, and she didn't reply to Ron's earlier question.

"Mi?" Gin asked quietly, placing a hand on her arm as she asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

Hermione laughed again, but this time the laugh was sarcastic as she turned to her best female friend, "Yeah, I'm bloody fantastic."

No-one laughed and a tense silence filled the corridor. Chiron had stopped talking to Annabeth and was now focussed solely on the boy.

"What happened?" Ron repeated, this time turned to Percy and moving so that neither his sister, nor Harry, could hit him.

While Percy explained in a near-whisper, Harry's arm slowly tightened protectively around his friend's shoulders and the tops of Ginny and Ron's ears turned bright red with anger. Once he'd finished, Ron leapt up and yelled, "Where is he? He's not gonna hurt Mione again."

Hermione gently pulled at the hem of his robes and he lowered his head to look at her. She opened her mouth and tried to formulate words, but none came, and she shut it again in defeat, only managing to shake her head slightly at him.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I felt numb, as though all the good had been sucked from the world. That was probably an exaggeration; I wasn't besotted with him or anything. Was I? I hoped not because I didn't know what I would do if I suddenly found out that I was in love with Luke Castellan, Chronos' host. It wouldn't do.

I shook my head to try and clear it of all thoughts related to him, and raised my eyes once again to Ron's, this time managing to get the words out, "Don't hurt him. I was my fault."

"Don't say that," Gin whispered, and I whirled to face her, suddenly feeling inexplicably angry, "I should say that, because it's true. It _is _my fault."

Gin opened her mouth again to say something, but Harry beat her to it, "Why do you feel that it is your fault?"

"I don't _feel _that it is my fault. It is my fault," I protested, raising myself slightly.

"Okay, okay," he tried to sooth me, "Why is this so?"

"We were going out…"

"Going out?" Gin asked in shock while Harry asked the question I hoped he would, "Were?"

I decided to ignore Gin and instead answered Harry, "I broke up with him because Thalia told me that he was working for Voldemort. He got Ron to tell me, Annabeth and Percy to go to the training arena because Thalia wanted to show us something, but we got it from Ron that that was a lie. We were prepared when we went in there, and we defeated Big Mama, but Luke…he…"

"He what?" Gin asked, her voice going deathly quiet, "Mi, what did he do?"

I took a deep breath before even attempting to continue. When it was clear that I wasn't going to be able to, all eyes turned to Percy and he continued the story.

"He has become Chronos' host."

"Chronos?" Chiron the centaur asked in horror, "The Titan?"

"The very same."

"This is not good. If he's taken a mortal host, then he plans to attack Mount Olympus. We have to warn the gods."

"What about Luke?" I asked immediately, wondering why I cared but, even after everything he'd done, I still cared for him.

"Why do you care?" Gin snarled as if wondering the same thing, but her expression softened when I turned to look at her.

I guess I looked a sight. My hair was messed up from where I'd been leaning against the wall, and my eyes were bloodshot from crying. My robes were crumpled from sitting on the floor, and the top was wet from the tears that still continued to drip from my eyes.

"I care," I began slowly, "Because no matter what he's done, I still went out with him, and all this is my fault." Then I turned to Chiron and practically demanded, "What will happen to Luke?"

"He will die."


	16. Dedicated to

**Simplewhiterose – I wanted to have Luke dying because that is what happens in the books, but I am going to write a sequel for this story, and we shall have to see what happens in that one. Thank you for reading and, for your awesome reviews, I am dedicating this chapter to you. Thank you.**

**Tsukiyo Tenshi – Thanks for reviewing and I think things will get better from here on in. They can't exactly get any worse, can they? Please keep reading and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – I will make Harry a demi-god then, and I will put it in this chapter. I will have to think of a way to incorporate it. Thanks for reading and reviewing, please continue to do so.**

**xXThe Solaris MaidenXx – I know, but it isn't really Ron's fault. He likes Hermione but she doesn't feel the same way. He is soon going to find someone; I will make sure of it. Thanks for reviewing.**

**Trivia 101 – I will update as soon as possible. Thank you for reading and reviewing.**

**A dedication to Simplewhiterose**

Hermione:

"He will die."

That statement echoed around in my head, making anything else insignificant. _He will die, he will die, he will die._

I placed my head in my hands, fighting the tears that still wanted to stream down my cheeks. I wanted to be strong; I _had _to be strong. I would find a way around this, he couldn't die. He just couldn't.

I realised something that Luke had told me when we'd broken up, but I only acknowledged now. I was in love with him, and I was too late.

"Mione…" Gin murmured, grabbing my hand and pulling me up to face her, "Mi, come on. It's late, we should go to bed."

"Yeah," I muttered, unfeeling. I felt numb for the second time in about ten minutes.

I stumbled away from them, making my way to the door of the arena and into the harsh wind outside. Thalia was waiting outside Zeus' cabin – presumably for me – but I stormed past her and lay down behind Zeus' statue in the centre.

I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

_I was in a long, stone hall with flickering candles in brackets lining the walls. The floor was painted a rich burgundy, while the walls were bare stone. _

_I was running, the candles leading my way, but I had no idea where I was going. _

_I emerged into a large chamber with three chairs at the head, one slightly further back than the others, and then a further nine chairs leading down the sides. None were occupied, and a blond-haired boy of about seventeen was busy destroying the one at the furthest end, shouting obscenities at it._

_I recognised him almost immediately as a certain follower of Voldemort and the General. I growled, wanting more than anything to leave his presence, but it was a dream, and I wasn't in control._

_He oozed dark magic that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He was pure evil, and when he turned around, I could see the eerie golden eyes staring unseeingly back at me._

"_Aah, Hermione," he purred, taking a step closer, "How nice of you to join me."_

"_You don't have to do this, Luke," I pleaded, also taking a step closer, "We'll find a way to rid you of Chronos, and we can go back to Camp or school. Please."_

_It was a long shot, I knew Luke wasn't all there, but I had to try._

_To my utmost surprise, he seemed unsteady on his feet and for the briefest moment his eyes blinked back to their original blue colour. As soon as I was sure I'd seen it, it was gone and he once again sported the cruel, blank expression. _

"_Do not try anything on me, I am completely in control of this mortals body, and nothing you will do can stop me."_

"_Maybe not," I murmured in reply, "Luke, I love you."_

**XxX**

Luke:

It felt like I was staring at the Dark Lord through a tunnel, a long dark tunnel. My thoughts were foggy, my movement sluggish, and I could hear a smooth voice in my mind, as if there was someone in my head.

I could see Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise standing to one side, and there was an empty coffin in front of the Dark Lord. I couldn't help but wonder as to its purpose. There was no-one else about but something big had clearly just happened from the looks of disgust, horror and awe on my friends faces. I was about to ask what had happened, but the voice slithered into my consciousness and I listened to it.

"Don't ask any questions, and do what I bid, Luke Castellan."

I found myself nodding, much to the confusion of the Slytherins, who, of course, couldn't hear the voice. I didn't even wonder who it was, knowing that it would be best if I just agreed.

I remembered Hermione breaking up with me, and wanting to get revenge, but after that my memory was a blank hole. My abrupt loss of memory did not faze me, as it would have only five minutes prior. Instead, I found myself relishing in wondering what was going to happen next.

"Follow the Dark Lord, and do whatever he tells you to," the sneaky voice whispered, back full force. I could hear smugness in the undertone, but thought no more on it as I blindly followed the Dark Lord. There was something amiss in the way Draco was staring at me as he fell into step beside me, but when I turned a glare to him, he looked away quickly.

The voice was giggling softly at his obvious discomfort, but I couldn't help wondering why he seemed so nervous and – dare I say it? – scared. I was about to ask him what had happened, but a whispered rebuffed from the companion in my head, stopped me.

He fell silent as we dissaparated from Camp Half-Blood, and came out in a lonely countryside with only the trees and the sparse grass for company. In the middle of the empty space, stood most of the monsters from the training arena earlier, along with a few others. The two that caught my eye were the giants Otis and Ephialtes. They were children of Gaia, the Earth Goddess, and it was well-known that they hated the Gods for all they had been subjected to over the years.

It soon became apparent that the monsters around me were planning on killing the Gods and reclaiming Mount Olympus as their own. But if they killed the Gods, then they would destroy Camp Half-Blood and, in turn, Hermione.

I suddenly felt extremely light-headed and unsteady on my feet. I saw Draco turn hurriedly towards me, his grey eyes searching mine as he looked for an answer in the unfathomable depths. Eventually, he turned away again, and I felt normal once more.

I had no idea what had happened, but, from the looks I was getting from Draco and the Dark Lord, it was nothing good.

I shook those thoughts away and silently listened to Voldemort tell everyone his plan for world domination.

**XxX**

Harry:

Will Solace, the councillor for the Apollo Cabin, stuck his head into the cabin and looked around for a moment as though confused. When he saw who he was looking for, he beckoned hurriedly and shouted above the noise of his house-mates, "Potter, Chiron wants to talk with you." Satisfied that he had done his job, he left to talk to some other demi-gods, and Harry was left to find the centaur.

He wasn't hard to find, as he left a large shadow over the lake as he gazed broodily into it. Harry didn't want to interrupt the centaur's deep thoughts, but knew that he had to in order to meet at Zeus' cabin when Hermione woke up as he wanted to talk to her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" The centaur asked before he could. He was indicating the pearly water that shimmered with the many fish that were housed there. It was bright, clear, and picturesque.

"It is," Harry agreed as he came to stand next to him, also gazing into the waters depths. He almost jerked back in surprise when a cheeky face stared up at him before spouting water into his face. Instead, he just laughed and wiped it away.

Chiron gave a small grin as he replied, "Poseidon has done a good job. He wishes to speak with you."

Harry had no idea why the creepy God of the Sea would want to talk to him, but decided he had to go with it anyway. He was getting rather unnerved by the way all the Gods seemed to want to talk to him: first Hermes, now Poseidon.

As if he could read his thoughts, Chiron's smile widened as he trotted away and a large, bearded man stood in his place. He stared at Harry for a moment in silence before a smile similar to Chiron's split over his face.

"Aah, Harry, how you've grown."

"Uh, thanks," Harry replied uncertainly, unsure of what to say in response to that.

"What I have to tell you will probably come as a shock, but I ask you to keep an open mind and not interrupt."

When Harry nodded sharply, he continued, "I am your father. I met the beautiful Lily Evans when she was only twenty one. She was already engaged to James Potter…" Harry opened his mouth to interrupt, but a glare from his _father _stopped him, "It was a night I will remember for the rest of my life, but it was wrong. When I found out that she was pregnant, I sought her out to tell her that James Potter would raise you better than I ever could. When she dies, it was I who suggested giving you to Petunia and Vernon Dursley. Their hatred of you was the only thing that kept you safe, and they lived right across from Hermione Granger and her family. As she was a demi-god and would also go to Hogwarts, it was fitting that you would get to know her that way."

He paused for effect before continuing, "I am not Poseidon; I am Neptune, the Roman God of the Sea, and your father, whether you decide to accept me as such or not."

When he paused again, Harry didn't speak for a full five minutes; he just stared in shock and horror at the man in front of him.

Eventually, he snapped, "My father – James Potter – died thinking that I was his son?"

The venom in his tone made Neptune flinch, but he held the boys angry glare and returned it with a look of defiance, but when he next spoke, he saw all the anger slowly drain out of his.

"No, Lily told James straight off what had happened, but he loved her enough to forgive her. I am truly sorry, Harry, for the pain and horror I have caused you."

"Does this mean," Harry began, completely ignoring his father's apology, "That Hermione is my cousin."

"It does, but you are not permitted to tell anyone but her, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape of this."

"But," Harry began as one more question bubbled forth from his throat, "Professor Dumbledore had a check done on all the demi-gods at Hogwarts, and only Hermione and her brother came up. Why is that?"

"That, Harry, is because I had never acknowledged you as my son. The monsters could guess of it, but none knew for certain except me, Lily Potter, and Jean Granger."

"Hermione's mum?"

"She had a child with my brother, after all."

"Of course," Harry whispered, planning how he was going to tell his friends of this newest occurrence. After all that had happened, he wasn't sure if they would accept him again.

Oh well, the only way he was going to find out was if he tried.

With that thought in his mind, he left his father and set off for Zeus' cabin, guessing that Hermione would be awake.


	17. Attack!

**XxThe Solaris MaidenXx – I only had Harry becoming a demi-god because one of my other reviewers asked me if I could, and then gave me a good reason to. I'm glad it was unexpected, I hoped it would be, but did you still like that fact? Please keep reading and reviewing, I enjoy reading them.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Did you like Harry's part in it because I wasn't sure if I made it too out of the blue? Thanks for reviewing.**

**Simplewhiterose – One of my other reviewers asked if I could make Harry a demi-god, so I did. I'm glad you liked that fact, and Harry and Percy are brothers, though Percy doesn't know it yet – he finds out in this chapter. I'm not sure if I'll include Tyson yet, what do you think? I don't want to offend any other reviewers by saying this, but you are my best so I had to dedicate the last chapter to you. I was crying just writing about Hermione telling Luke she loved him in her dream, but it being too late for her to tell him. You don't sound like a cry baby, I have cried so many times at this story already. To be fair, I cry at a lot of things. Thanks for reading and reviewing, please continue to do so.**

**Trivia 101 – By my standards, it has taken me a long time to update, so I am sorry but I have been revising really hard – I have two exams this week. I hope you carry on liking the story.**

**The-guest-who-reviewed-chapter-16 – Thanks for reviewing and please keep doing so. I hope I haven't overdone it with having Hermione have another dream – please tell me if I do. **

**On with the story…**

**Attack!**

Hermione:

I awoke to see the worried faces of Ginny, Ron, Annabeth, Percy and Thalia above me. I attempted to smile at them, but it was more like a grimace. I noticed that Harry was absent and thought this odd, but said nothing about it and instead turned to Percy and Annabeth, "I'm sorry for losing it."

They both gave me astonished looks but it was Thalia who answered, "You had the right. You just found out that…"

"Yeah," I interrupted quietly, not wanting to relieve it again, "I know."

"How are you feeling? You broke your leg but Professor McGonagall fixed it," Gin murmured, giving me a small smile, "We were really worried."

"I'm fine," I near-whispered. That was the understatement of the century. I was not fine, nor did I ever think I would be fine again. I felt empty, alone, but, of course, I couldn't tell them that. They would insist I take some time away, and I didn't want that. I was going to find a way to save Luke; I just had no idea where the start.

Harry broke me from my thoughts as he staggered in, extremely pale.

"How was your talk with Chiron?" Annabeth asked, sitting up ever so slightly and smiling at him. He tossed her a confused look and she quickly explained, "Will – that's the councillor for the Apollo cabin – told us that he wanted a word."

"Well, he didn't," Harry replied shortly, turning from us. I recognised his stance. There was something on his mind, but he didn't want to tell us.

"Harry," I whispered, and he turned to face me. I smiled a very small smile at him and patted the seat beside me. Once he was sitting, I placed a clammy hand on his arm and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You know how my mum and dad were killed by Voldemort?"

When I nodded, he continued in a rush, "Well, it turns out that James Potter wasn't my father."

"Who?" I asked, my voice barely a breath in the stillness that surrounded us as everyone waited for his response.

"Neptune."

Almost as if he was scared that we would start to yell at him for keeping this from us, he continued in a rush, "I'm moving to Poseidon's cabin and…"

"That makes you my brother," Percy whispered, and I realised that he was right. Percy and Harry were half-brothers, much like Thalia and I were. They had different versions of the same dad, but different mums.

"And my cousin," I murmured, staring at him, "Harry, you're my cousin."

Harry laughed shortly and attempted to make a joke, "Wouldn't it be weird if we found out that Ron was Pluto's kid."

I laughed loudly, although it wasn't that funny. Laughing felt like a release from our meagre lives. We didn't have to worry about the threats of Voldemort and Chronos, and we could just be us.

Almost immediately we sobered again and I asked, "What happened the Ethan – the little kid?"

"Chiron's looking after him. We have no idea why Luke wanted him dead, but it cannot be good," was Percy's reply and I nodded, suddenly remembering something.

"Hey guys."

Thalia stopped as she was about to stand up, and everyone else turned to look at me.

"I have a dream while I was asleep."

Thalia was immediately next to me, grabbing onto my arm.

"What about?" she asked, her voice low and dangerous.

I recounted all that I could remember – conveniently forgetting to tell her how I had told Luke I loved him, because that just brought bad memories to the forefront of my mind.

When I finished, six pairs of eyes peered curiously back at me, but no-one spoke and Ron and Ginny, being the only non-demi-gods, looked at me in awe, not having had one of the dreams before – Harry had them because of his connection to Lord Voldemort and, probably, due to him being a demi-god.

"What do you think it means?" Gin asked after a long, uncomfortable pause. Her eyes sought Percy, Annabeth, or Thalia's in the hope that they would be able to explain it, but none could. In the end, Thalia said, "It will come to pass; we must just wait until such a time as that."

I nodded resolutely, "There is nothing we can do to stop it; I don't think we should even try."

"But…"

"No buts, Gin. What will pass, will pass."

"Who said that?" Ron asked, as clueless as always.

"Some old guy with a white beard who likes to call himself our headmaster," I responded drily, wondering if he ever listened during the start-of-year feast.

"Dumbledore?"

"No, it was Lockhart," I replied sarcastically, "Of course it was Dumbledore."

Ron had the grace to blush, he turned his gaze from ours as we spluttered with laughter, but at that moment the bell rang to signal dinner.

"It's too late for dinner," Thalia whispered, "Why would it be going off?"

"Maybe it's a mistake," Ron murmured, seeming to forget his previous embarrassment as he grinned at her. I raised my eyebrows at Harry and Gin, stifling a giggle behind my hand. Thalia didn't seem so impressed and shook her head angrily at him, "No, it must be a trap."

Ron's face fell and Harry patted him on the shoulder, "Good luck next time, mate."

Ron went red again and made to stand, but I put a hand on his arm, staring at the figure of Zeus that took up most of the cabin. I could have sworn that I saw a figure rush behind it.

Just as I was about to dismiss it, I saw a long, slender hand beckon to me. I would recognise that hand anywhere. Instead of going to my brother, I shook my head, ignoring the confused looks I was receiving. Instead, I beckoned to Jase.

"Mione, who are you staring at?" Harry asked, trying to follow my line of sight but seeing nothing because he didn't know what to look for.

Almost in slow motion, a figure appeared, moving out of the shadows towards us. Harry and Ron recognised him as my brother, Gin recognised him as her boyfriend, Annabeth and Percy didn't recognise him, but it was Thalia I turned to look at.

Her face was completely void of colour; she looked as though she'd seen a ghost. Of course, that was entirely probable in the Wizarding world.

"Jason?"

"Hey sis," he said, throwing her a smirk that could rival Malfoy's.

"I don't understand."

"Dad sent me to look after Mi," Jase replied with a small shrug. Everyone turned to stare at me, but I only saw the brother who had called me a name I despised.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." I snarled, glowering at him so that he flinched slightly and apologised.

"Why did you show yourself now?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Of course, I knew he had been there the whole time, but no-one else knew that.

"It is a trap, don't go out there."

Thalia threw Ron a knowing smirk and Ron went red for the third time in as many minutes and ducked his head bashfully.

"What's going to happen?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at Jase, breaking him off from what he'd been saying to Thalia.

"It seems that our good friend Moldy-Voldy has decided that attacking Camp so soon after Luke took Chronos' soul into his body is the best way to catch us off guard. And he thinks the people from Camp will go into the mess hall to see what Chiron has to say because he rings that bell if there is something wrong."

"How do you know?" Annabeth asked nervously, glancing at Percy, blushing and turning away.

Jase just smiled knowingly and shrugged, deigning not to reply. Instead, he turned back to me and asked, "What are we going to do?"

"Annabeth, Percy and Thalia, try to get everyone who is not already out of their cabins to stay there. Ron, Ginny and Jase, try to find Chiron and see if there is anything we can do."

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked, raising his eyes to mine. I grinned wolfishly and replied, "We are going to try and find reinforcements."

They all nodded and we set about to do our jobs without another word.

**XxX**

Harry:

Harry, Ron and Ginny tiptoed out of Zeus' cabin to see the tell-tale black cloaks and masks of Death Eaters slowly, carefully, entering the Camp, making for the mess hall. There were no children around and they all hoped that meant that they were safely in their cabins and not in the soon-to-be-attacked food hall.

The first cabin they came to – Aphrodite's – had five children ranging in age from ten to sixteen huddled in the corner, being guarded by a Death Eater. The rest of the cabin must have been in the mess hall.

"We're underage," Ginny murmured as she reached for her wand. Her hand was stilled by Jason, who shook his head almost imperceptibly and murmured, "I'm not."

Almost before the Death Eater had time to register the danger, Jase had shot a stunning spell at his back. Ropes were conjured from no-where and they wrapped him up in a cocoon. The five kids slowly rose to their feet and the eldest stepped forward, extending a hand, "I'm Silena Beauregard, head councillor for the Aphrodite cabin, thank you."

"If you're head councillor, then how come you couldn't look after yourself?" Ron demanded, as clueless as always. Silena smiled kindly at him and replied, "He took my knife."

She pulled it from the creepy black robes and said "Mitchell, will you please keep the rest of them in here, we need to warn the others." Then she turned back to the two Wizards and one Witch, muttering, "Most of my cabin left for the mess hall and ignored me. I know that Apollo cabin and Hermes cabin are still inside – which is good because they are the two biggest. Ares cabin and Hephaestus' cabin left for the mess hall. I'm not sure about the others."

"Gin and Silena, you two check out the Apollo and Hermes cabins. If there are Death Eater's inside, do not attack them and use the Dumbledore's Army coins that Mione charmed to contact us," Ron demanded.

"Dumbledore's Army?" Silena asked as the two of them hurried off, and Gin replied shortly before they were lost from view.

"We'll check Dionysus' cabin; I heard that he had two kids – Castor and Pollux."

It seemed that these two camp mates had gone to the mess hall, so it was there that the two Wizards headed.

They could see shadowy figures inside and listened intently. Luke was standing on a raised dais, with Voldemort and Malfoy slightly behind him. It was a slightly odd sight to see Voldemort standing behind someone.

"If you join us, you shall have riches beyond your wildest dreams. What have the Gods ever given us? They ignore us and then expect us to fight on their side. Join me, Chronos, and we shall be victorious."

**XxX**

Hermione:

"Where are we going?" Harry demanded quietly as the two of us made our way up the hill that led into the Camp.

"Just over the hill," I replied vaguely, knowing that for my plan to work, we would have to be outside of the protective barriers.

Once we reached our destination, I turned to Harry and ordered, "Your wand, Harry."

Immediately I had a wand placed at my throat and Harry's terrified glare on mine, "What have you done to my friend?"

"Nothing," I snapped, "And we don't have time for this. Keep your wand if you want to."

That seemed to be the right thing to say, for I soon found my hand closing around his wand. I slipped it into my pocket and raised my own, only to have Harry's toned hand on my own.

"You'll get expelled if you use magic outside of school," he hissed but I jerked my hand free, and cast a spell anyway.

I hoped my plan would work and I wouldn't get expelled, but one could never tell.

There was a loud pop in front of us, and a figure apparated into view. I smiled and waved a hand, catching his attention.

"We need your help."

That was all I needed to say. The figure nodded and dissaparated, a small smile on his face at the thought of the battle ahead. I only hoped we weren't too late.

**I'm sorry about the short chapter, but I was pressed for time. I have a few questions for those of you who can be deigned to guess. I'm sorry for the limited Luke/Hermione in this chapter.**

**Who is the man Hermione sent for (and no, it's not Dumbledore)?**

**Who did he dissaparate to get?**

**What will be the outcome of the battle?**

**What will happen to Luke in the next few chapters?**

**Thanks to all my reviewers and please review with what you think to the questions. Thanks again, please read and review. **


	18. Poseidon

**READ THE AUTHOR NOTE**

**I am aware – although I am not sure it is important – that in the last chapter I messed up on the jobs Hermione gave everyone. Here is a recap. **

**Jason, Ron and Ginny are going to get all of the Demi-gods to stay in their cabins.**

**Thalia, Percy and Annabeth are going to find Chiron.**

**Harry and Hermione are going to contact other people.**

**Tsukiyo Tenshi – I'm glad you're gripped with the story and please keep reading and reviewing. Thanks again.**

**Kirsty'xo – I can't tell you who it was, only that it wasn't Hermes; he has no big part in this story. Thanks for reviewing; please continue to do so.**

**Simplewhiterose – No, the person wasn't a God, although a few people guessed that. It was Neville and I agree that he is awesome. He is only sixteen though and technically can't use magic outside of school. Hermione contacted Dobby who then contacted Neville, who told Dumbledore's Army and the Order. Thanks for reviewing, I loved reading your thoughts.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – It wasn't Lupin, although he will be there. I'll try and find some way to fit Tyson in, although it won't be in the same way he is introduced in the books. Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

**Trivia 101 – I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I hope this chapter is worth it. What do you mean by the second Titan war – do you mean the one where Luke dies? If you do, then this is not that war, it is merely the pre-battle I suppose you could say. Thanks for reviewing; please continue to do so.**

**xXThe Solaris MaidenXx – I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I hope you like this chapter. I'm glad you liked the previous chapter and please continue to review, I enjoy reading them.**

**Poseidon**

Hermione:

"Hey," Neville grinned breathlessly as he approached us, "Dobby got your message."

"How did you get here?" Harry demanded in awe, staring at Neville, eyes wide.

"House elves can dissaparate inside Hogwarts and Mione contacted Dobby, who, in turn, contacted me and I told Dumbledore's army and the teachers. I sent Lee Jordan and Fred and George Weasley to inform the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix."

"You know of the Order?"

"My parents were in it; they told me."

By this time, Neville had tears in his eyes but he was grinning happily at us, "That meant a lot to me."

"We know," I replied, taking one hand and squeezing it, "Who else could come?"

"Anthony Goldstein, Zacharias Smith, Padma Patil, Terry Boot, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Susan Bones. The Weasley Twins and Lee will also contact Katie Bell, Oliver Wood, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson

"Perfect," I murmured as Seamus and Dean approached, each with their wands out.

"Where is it Hermione?" Dean asked, giving me a small smile. I returned it and pointed behind me, where we could already hear the sounds of battle raging.

He nodded and everyone ran off just as there was another loud pop and Fred – or maybe George – apparated into view.

"They have all agreed and should be here within five minutes," he informed Harry, Neville and I just as there were more pops and first his twin and Lee, but then everyone else, appeared. Lupin shook his head, looking dazed for a moment, before he pointed behind us and nodded with finality before giving us a short wave and rushing off to help. Frank and Alice Longbottom hugged their son and – to my surprise – me and Harry, before they also left. There were a few other Aurors in attendance, but I didn't know any other them and they clearly had no desire to get to know us. The former members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team grinned at us sneakily and Katie – being only a year older than us – actually went as far as to hug us, before they also disappeared.

"Let's go fight," Neville said as cheerfully as he could and I was suddenly reminded of how much the boy had changed in the last year or two. He had gone from a snivelling coward to someone whom I was sure would soon be a war hero.

I grinned back and agreed wholeheartedly.

**XxX**

Percy:

Annabeth gulped nervously but didn't back out. Let nobody say that Annabeth Chase was a coward. She wouldn't have even been nervous if it wasn't for the fact that many of the people fighting in her beloved Camp were Witches and Wizards. Nobody, not even someone skilled with a sword, could fight against the ruthlessness of their swords. It helped that Hermione and Harry had managed to get reinforcements, and a lot of them, but they were still outnumbered three to one.

Thalia didn't let her fear show, but inside she was at war. She had spent so long locking herself away from the world and allowing no-one to see the vulnerable girl she was inside, but one glance at the red-headed sixth year had made her want to melt into a crumbling mess. One smile from him made her feel wanted such as she had never felt before, not even when on the run with Annabeth and Luke. She sighed, what did she have that Hermione didn't? Ron would never see her as anyone special; Hermione would always hold a place in his heart.

Percy – contrary to his two female companions – wasn't trying to act brave, he was. For some strange reason he wasn't even scared. He thought it might have something to do with having Annabeth next to him, and the backup that the Witches and Wizards provided. They were going to win this battle, he could feel it. The only problem was that he knew this wouldn't be the end of Luke – he would come back, he always did.

The three of them crept around the edge of the field until they reached Chiron, who was just strapping on his sword. At first none of them spoke, just watching him, but then Thalia let out a noise that was somewhere between annoyance and amusement, and demanded, "What will you have us do?"

"What have you already done?" The centaur asked cryptically as he turned to face the three.

"Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley and Jason Granger are searching to see if anyone is still in their cabins. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are getting reinforcements. The Camp has been overrun by a mixture of monsters, demi-gods, Witches and Wizards, and I think they have already managed to get some reinforcements. Even with the extra help, we are still outnumbered."

Chiron regarded them in surprise for a moment before he nodded resolutely, "I think we may need the help of a God."

"What do you suppose we do?" Percy asked, "We don't have time to go to Olympus."

"Your father is currently at his castle at the bottom of the ocean and maybe if you visited him, he would give you some reinforcements."

"How? Where will I know where to go? Who..?"

The centaur laughed gleefully at the sixteen-year-olds obvious discomfort, but said nothing against it as they watched their forces being slowly driven back. It was clear that, if more reinforcements were coming, they would not come in time.

"Okay."

Percy quickly dashed over to the lake, only turning around once to see them still watching him. Thalia raised a hand in farewell before drawing her sword and joining the battle; Chiron was only a few seconds later. When it was just Annabeth left, he dived in.

The water was a dash of icy-coldness to his skin as he attempted to breathe in the suffocating darkness. Percy began to thrash, attempting to gain the will-power to draw breath, but something was wrong. He should be able to breathe underwater, but something was interfering with his powers, blocking them.

He could feel his vision slowly darkening as he fought unconsciousness, but he finally had to succumb to the darkness.

**XxX**

Percy awoke what felt like hours later. His throat was parched but he was still underwater. He groggily took in his surroundings.

He was in a large room that was empty bar the bed he had slept in and – for some strange reason – an ornate mirror hanging on the wall. The covers of the bed were soft and he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but he had a nagging suspicion that, although it felt like hours, he hadn't actually been asleep for that long. In that case, the battle would still be raging.

He pulled himself from the warm confines, and leisurely made his way to the door. Opening it, he peeked into a long, empty corridor with doors on either side. He shook his head once to clear it of the fuzziness, and then he quickly made his way down the corridor, passing small, meek-looking doors on either side but deciding not to enter for fear of what may be there. There was no doubt in his mind as to where he was, but where the man he sought was, was another matter.

As it turned out, he didn't even need to look, because when he turned the final corner it was to see row upon row of all manners of sea creatures all facing in one direction, where a tall man with a stubble for a beard stood, surveying them all proudly.

As Percy approached his father, the man turned and appraised him for a moment in silence before beginning to speak. "There is no doubt in my mind as to what you want to use my men for, my son," he whispered, beckoning with one, long finger.

Percy found himself compelled to move closer even if he didn't want to. He answered shortly, "I know." Then, feeling that he should say more, he quickly added, "May I, father."

"They are at your command, Percy. Lead them in my stead, and do me proud."

Percy almost wrinkled his nose at the clichéd words, but refrained just in time. He didn't think that his father would react kindly to insolence. Instead, he nodded shortly; expecting to be able to leave, but Poseidon had one more surprise for him in the form of a small, baby-like Cyclops.

"Brother," the Cyclops shouted, running at Percy and nearly squashing him with his flailing arms.

"Who..?" was all Percy could gasp in the arms of his supposed _brother._

"This is Tyson, my son," Poseidon said delicately, grimacing slightly at the Cyclops, who was now rambling on in Greek about his job in the forges of the underground palace, "You are to look after him. He walked away, muttering about Romans and such like things.

Rolling his eyes, Percy ordered his new army to the top of the sea bed – the battle was about to get interesting.

**XxX**

Ginny:

Ginny felt crushed between tons of people – the dead were piling higher and higher, and the living were dwindling. Many Camp Half-blood-ers had raced off into the night, not to be seen again, and the Ministry of Magic – who'd arrived barely ten minutes ago – were planning on taking their men away. The other side were relentless, pushing them back further and further. There was no question about it; they were losing.

Ginny slashed at a leg with her small dagger, before stunning it with her wand and tying him up in ropes. She was opposed to killing and so, the number of captured almost outweighed the number of men still fighting, but that didn't mean the death count was low. Far from it.

She stupefied another man before she was distracted by a scene to her right. From out of the waters came hundreds upon hundreds of men and beasts alike. Many of them wouldn't usually have been seen outside the confines of oceans, but now they had been rallied for a common cause. And, from the fact that Percy was at their head, Ginny could guess that they were on Camp Half-bloods side.

It didn't look like anyone else noticed until the first enemy to succumb to a razor-sharp sword screamed a blood-curdling scream and tried to run away. The looks on their enemies faces would have been classic if not for the terror of their situation.

They seemed to be trying to run away, but they were soon surrounded, with no-where to go. From where she stood, Ginny could see Luke Castellan, his golden eyes fixed on the scene unfolding in front of him, his face void of any expression. Even as she watched, Voldemort grasped his upper arm and dissaparated, his Death Eaters following moments later.

"Percy got reinforcements then?" said a voice at her side and, startled, Ginny turned to see Hermione and Harry smiling at her. It was Hermione who had spoken; Harry seemed to be in a land all his own.

"It would seem like it," she mused, giving her friends a small smile as Thalia, Annabeth, Ron, Jason and Percy approached. There was a Cyclops at Percy's side, who seemed to be pointing out random things along the way.

"This is Tyson," Percy muttered once he'd finally reached them, "He's my half-brother."

"Brother," the Cyclops – Tyson – agreed, sounding an awful lot like Grawp, Hagrid's giant half-brother.

**XxX**

Hermione:

This wasn't going to be the final battle, of that I was certain, but we had lost a great deal of men – members of the Order and the Ministry alike, though none of Dumbledore's army. As many of our enemies were taken into custody, we could see our troops beginning to mass together and tend to the wounded.

That would have to be my first job. Finding out who was alike could come later, but Hermes' cabin was being used to house the wounded because it was the biggest, and I believed that my expertise in that area would help. I had only read about these charms and already Healers were arriving, but I still felt that I could lend a hand.

I told only Harry where I was going, and quickly stole away. The reason I only told Harry was because I had been injured. True, it was only on my shoulder, but it still hurt like hell and restricted my movement. Harry knew of the injury, having seen it being inflicted, but knew that nothing would stop me from helping those who were more injured than I. Even so, I could feel the hot stickiness slipping down my arm under my ripper robes.

Upon entering Hermes' cabin, I saw Healer Snow – or Damien as he preferred us to call him – standing a little way away, overseeing the rest of the Healers. It was to him that I headed.

"Damien." My voice was hoarse, as though I'd been shouting, and quiet, but he seemed to hear me anyway.

"Hermione?"

"I was wondering if there was anything I could do?"

"Healer Bryan over there (he pointed to the left) could do with a bit of help. A him when you get there."

I thought I saw his eyes flicker to my shoulder, but figured that it must have been part of my imagination when he turned away from me to speak to Angelina Johnson.

"Hey," I murmured quietly once I'd reached the burly Healer, "I've been sent to help you."

"Then take this cream and rub it on the burn on his face while I tend to his leg," Healer Bryan instructed, indicating the man on the bed. With a start I recognised him as Neville, and had to shake my head at his foolishness. Knowing him, he probably jumped in the way of a curse or something.

Neville's eyes flickered open as I started applying the salve, but his eyes were fixed on my shoulder, and the first thing he did was to call the Healer.

"Good, you're awake," Bryan grinned, revealing a few missing teeth, but Neville gave no indication that he had heard. Instead, he said, "Hermione needs tending more than I do."

"She is not…" Bryan began, also catching sight of my shoulder. I turned slightly to see my whole arm covered in blood, more still gushing, and had to admit that it was bad. Still I murmured, "No, I'm fine."

Instead of replying, the Healer moved around the bed and inspected my shoulder. Suddenly the pain intensified tenfold and in his bloody hand, Bryan held the top end of an arrow. Instead of looking victorious, he began to inspect my shoulder, muttering under his breath.

He raised his eyes to mine and murmured, "Stupefy."

**XxX**

I awoke to a pounding headache and a parched throat. I was lying on my back on a hard mattress. It was impossibly dark and for the fleetest moment I thought I was blind, but then I saw the faintest slither of light showing from under a door somewhere to my right. My left shoulder felt like it was on fire but I daren't put my hand up to touch it. My breathing was slow but irregular and I would have liked nothing better than to drift back into unconsciousness, but my brain seemed to have other ideas.

Slowly, almost carefully, I raised myself up to take a good look at the room I was in. It was only from this angle that I could tell that I was still in Hermes' cabin, but the door had been closed and all the lights turned off to give the invalids a chance to recuperate.

I could see many beds around mine and so I navigated around them carefully until I reached the door. I was almost wary to open it, but open it I did, and was suddenly assaulted by colour, sights and smells.

It seemed to be the middle of the afternoon as the sun was high in the sky, casting a bright but weak beam over everything. It was only March and there were the faintest beginnings of new life on the ground.

It seemed that in however long I'd been asleep, Camp Half-blood had been restored to its former glory. No longer were there bodies everywhere, or the captured proclaiming their innocence. No longer was the blood covering everything, or the hopeless look of those who knew they'd lost. Most importantly, there was no-one around. That didn't scare me, however, because I could hear noise from the mess hall.

It was to this that I was headed.


	19. A Song of Easter and Dudley

**A Song of Easter and Dudley**

Hermione:

"You're awake," was the first thing I heard as I entered the mess hall, before a red blur was obscuring my sight. It seemed that in her happiness to see me awake, she had forgotten of my frail state. As if suddenly remembering, she pulled back, blushing to the roots of her hair.

"They weren't sure you were going to make it."

From behind the excitable red-head, Harry laughed, "Give her some air Gin."

"I'm fine," I insisted when Ginny didn't seem to want to move. At her disbelieving look, I said, "Honest."

"She's fine Ginny," Luna murmured from beside Harry and he gave her a smile that seemed to be so much more than friendly. I didn't waste any time on the implications of that, however, and let my eyes roam over everyone in attendance.

"What happens now?"

"It's nearly the Easter holidays," Professor McGonagall started to explain, "Everyone from Hogwarts are allowed to go home – or to stay here as is their wish. Mr Potter was just telling us of those galleons that you charmed to be able to contact people. Would it be possible for you to make about fifteen more?"

"Sure, but I'll need to replicate it. Does anyone still have theirs?"

I looked around at the previous members of Dumbledore's Army, a question in my stare. At first no-one replied, but then Neville quickly placed his in my outstretched palm. I glanced at Minister Scrimgeour for permission to use magic outside of school, and he nodded stiffly. I moved over to a vacant table, placed the galleon down and murmured the spell. For a moment the galleon glowed a brilliant red, but then it became the previous golden colour, and it was ready.

"Where are you going for Easter?" Ron asked, joining me as I watched people saying their goodbyes.

"I'll go home, I think."

"Well, come to the Burrow for the final week, mum insists, and Harry is coming for the second week; he's spending the first one at the Dursleys. Why, I have no idea."

"Then I shall not say no," I agreed with a small smile. Ron grinned back just as Thalia broke off from where she was engaged in a conversation with Percy, Annabeth, and Percy's brother Tyson.

"Hey," she said nervously and I let out a small laugh, deciding to leave them to it.

**XxX**

Ron:

Ron was watching Thalia discreetly as he spoke to Hermione. He wanted more than anything to go over there and ask her to come to the Burrow for Easter, but that would be pushing it. He doubted she even liked him, and if she refused he would look like such an idiot.

His heart flew into his throat when she approached him, and he saw the knowing look Hermione threw his way before she tactfully walked away.

"Hey," Thalia murmured, slightly breathlessly, and he was once again stunned by her beauty. She was a strong girl and wouldn't let anyone bring her down, but that was part of her appeal to him. He found that he just wanted to stare at her for the rest of his life.

As if sensing his gaze, she turned her eyes to his, smiling slightly as she said, "Do I have something on my face?"

Ron blushed to the roots of his fiery hair, wishing that the Earth would just swallow him whole, but Thalia only laughed good-naturedly and leaned closer, murmuring, "What are you doing for Easter?" He was struck by how she seemed to have read his mind, but only gave her a small smile and said, "I'm going home." In a sudden stretch of daring, he proposed, "Do you want to come? My mum won't mind. I mean, we can invite Percy and Annabeth as well."

He thought that she deflated slightly when he said the final part, but dismissed it as a figment of his imagination when she gave him a dazzling smile and nodded.

Even though they barely knew each other, he wanted to be the one person she could rely on. He wanted her to trust him, and he was going to make sure that that happened when she came to his house.

Let no-one call Ron Weasley a coward.

**XxX**

Hermione:

"Ready to go?" Jase asked from next to me just as I finished saying my goodbyes.

"Yeah," I whispered, "Let's go home."

He took my hand and we dissaparated, appearing slightly dishevelled in the living room. We had already chatted and decided not to mention that we knew of our heritage, it could lead to uncomfortable discussions that would be better left alone.

"Mione…Jase…is that you?" Mum asked from the kitchen and I shouted in the affirmative as we went to find her. Dad – or step-dad, whatever you want to call him – was sitting at the kitchen table with Will on his lap. Savanna was standing in the open doorway, on the phone to her boyfriend, and it seemed that Michael wasn't yet home from work. He had a Saturday job at the local library, and he seemed to spend every spare moment there.

"Savanna, would you take Will into the other room?" Dad asked suddenly, without warning, as he rose to put his empty coffee mug in the dishwasher. Although she gave him a suspicious glance, Savanna did as requested, and soon it was just Jase, mum, dad and me in the kitchen.

"What's this about?" I asked, sitting across from dad and giving him a small smile of encouragement as he shared a loaded glance with mum.

"We have something to tell you…" mum began and I glanced a Jase to see if he realised where this was going. It seemed that he did, as he quickly interrupted, "If this is about our father being Jupiter, then we already know. We also know about Thalia."

"How...?" Dad began, looking shocked beyond belief and also a little disappointed. After all, we weren't his real children.

Jase began to explain and I chipped in here and there with more information. On the long run, however, I just stared out of the window, watching our neighbours discreetly. Our house was right opposite the Dursleys and that brought up bad memories of just before I had left for Hogwarts. It also reminded me of Harry who, I had heard from Ron, was planning on spending the first week of Easter there.

"Isn't that right Mione?" Jase asked, breaking into my thoughts, and I whirled to face him, emitting a small noise of confusion.

"Dad will always be our dad, right?"

"Yeah," I replied distractedly. I had just seen Harry appear from around the side of the Dursleys house. He must have taken a portkey to the backyard. As if he sensed my eyes on him, he raised his and grinned back.

"What are you looking at, honey?" Mum asked, following my line of sight. Upon seeing Harry, her nose wrinkled delicately, "That's the Dursley's nephew, isn't it? He's a right oddball."

I would have laughed at her use of the word _oddball, _but she had just insulted one of my best friends. I was about to tell her as much, but Jase beat me to it.

"He's famous in our world, mum. That's Harry Potter; Mione's best friend."

By this time Harry had broken away from his aunt, uncle and cousin and was coming our way. Mum gave a loud, overdramatic sigh as she rose to answer the door, and came back moments later with Harry in tow.

"I was wondering if you could come out," he asked me, before turning to my brother, "You can come too, Jason."

"Nah," Jase smirked, "I have work. You two should too, by the way."

"We both know Mione," Harry laughed, "She'll have finished her homework already."

"We were going out," I reminded him sharply, following him out of the door. We were making our way down to the park when we saw Dudley, Harry's cousin, making his slow, ambling way towards us. At his back were his cronies, all six of them. As soon as he saw us, a massive smile broke across Dudley's face and he moved into our way.

"Gotcha self a girlfriend, Harry?" he asked while his cronies laughed in a Crabbe-and-Goyle kind of way.

"We're just friends," Harry snapped back, his hand straying to his pocket.

"Aw, come on," Dudley taunted, "Curse me."

I was surprise because muggles weren't supposed to know of our ability. Being a relative of Harry's, Dudley would have found out, but it appeared that he had told his friends.

"Don't Harry. We're under-aged, remember?"

"You go to the same school?" Dudley asked, looking slightly shocked, but then a cruel expression crossed his face as he sneered, "of course, you're both freaks together, eh, Hermione?"

"Shut up Dudley," I snarled, barely refraining from pulling out my wand and hexing him to smithereens, the law be damned.

"Fine," Dudley conceded, signalling to his friends and they moved around us. I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, and turned back to face Harry, who seemed to be as annoyed – if not more – than me.

"Why did you want to talk to me?" I asked him as we reached a bench by the side of the park and sat down, facing each other.

"What I have to say won't be welcome news," Harry murmured, turning to look over his shoulder at nothing in particular, "But I've been doing a bit of research. I mean, what I've found out will help us kill him, but you won't want to, and…"

"Harry," I interrupted sharply, "You're rambling."

He blushed slightly and slowed down his speech, "I have found out the only way that Chronos can be banished from Luke's body, but he will not be able to survive it and, Hermione, I'm so sorry." Tears began to fall from his eyes. I began to feel alarmed. What did he have to tell me that was so bad? I took his hand and squeezed it, telling him without words that he could tell me anything. "Hermione, the only way to do this is if the person who means the most to Luke kills him. That person is you."

It took a moment for that to sink in, but when it did I gave an almighty sob and placed my head in my hands, my body shaking.

"No, Harry, you must be misinformed," I gasped, ashamed of the tears that wouldn't stop leaking from my eyes, "Please, tell me this is some sort of sick joke." When he didn't reply, I raised my head to stare at him and he stared straight back. His tears had stopped, but mine continued to flow. I felt like my whole world was shattering. I had just found stability in my life, and now it was all coming crashing down again. I wanted to curl into a ball and stay that way forever, never letting anything hurt me anymore.

"I am sorry Mione."

He attempted to put a hand on my arm but I shrugged it off, turning from him and surveying our surroundings as I thought of something. No matter what, I wasn't going to let Luke die. I had only just realised it, but I did love him, and I would do anything for him.

I decided not to tell Harry this, and instead decided to do some research on the subject.

"I'm going to go back home, Harry. Call me if you need anything." And without a backward glance I left.

When I arrived home, I immediately locked myself in my room and began to search for a book that I had started to read at the beginning of the year, when I had taken refuge in the Room of Requirement. I wasn't even sure if I still had it, but, after a short search, it appeared that I did. _A Demi-god guide to all things monstrous. _Reading the title made me smile slightly and shake my head. Whomever had written it – it didn't have an author's name – certainly didn't think before coming up with that. It was awful.

I sat on my bed and opened it to the first page, the same page I had opened it to all those months ago.

_Demigods – or Half-bloods – are children born to a mortal and a god. All Demigods wield powers connected to the domain of their divine parent and these abilities grow stronger with age. While_ _most demigods are created much like regular humans, children of Athena are born from their mother's thoughts merging with their father's. The other gods are likely to be able to do similar things, however no known examples of similar births are known._

_Most demigods wait to be claimed. Children of Athena are claimed at birth, while others have to demonstrate some form of their parents' trait to be noticed, either through cunning, powers, skills like archery, or even beauty. Few demigods have full-blooded siblings (with the exception of twins), as their godly parent will usually leave their mortal consorts not long after a child is born, or sometimes even before that._

_Greek demigods often go on quests given to them by the Oracle of Delphi, whom is currently in the body of Rachel Elizabeth Dare. If the demigod is Roman, they are usually issued a quest by Octavian or, in at least one instance, a Roman god._

I smiled slightly as I turned to a random page. When I had first read this, I had had no idea of my heritage, and now I was deliberately seeking it out.

Page sixty four was entitled: _This is a story of hope and adventure, but most of all, of love. _

_It all started on the day of the midsummer solstice. The sun was high in the sky, sending its twinkling rays over the town, and there was a slight breeze ruffling the tree tops. A little girl, barely more than ten or so, was making her way to the village as she needed some bread for supper. That, in itself, wasn't unusual. No, the most unusual part of our tale is who this little girl was._

_With eyes like deep pools of obsidian, and a perky, red mouth, she was the beauty of the town, even at her tender age. She lived with her older brother, Callidus, just outside the village and although they both looked harmless enough, no-one dared venture too close. It was believed that the brother, a tall youth of seventeen, could do magic._

_In reality, this boy and his sister were demi-gods. They were the son and daughter of Zeus, the King of the Gods. However, the brother was angry. They had heard talk of a Camp not too far away. This Camp was supposed to house people like them, people who didn't fit in. But no-one had been to tell them about it. _

_In a fit of jealous rage, the brother had all but demolished their small abode, before sending his sister into the unknown outside. He waited until nightfall in case she came back, but she didn't. Just before he could go out and order her back in, he saw a light coming from the pond to the back._

_Without thinking, he made his way towards this pond. In the limited lighting, he could see a man standing facing the rippling water. He had long, white hair and a staff in his left hand. As if sensing a presence behind him, he turned, and Callidus wanted to scream and jump back in horror. _

_Where his face should have been was a black, empty hole. _

_Callidus found that he could not move, nor jump back. In fact, he couldn't do much of anything._

"_Yes," the figure hissed, "I have heard much about you, Callidus. You want something from me, although you don't know it yet. You are angry, yes? And jealous. I can see you, Callidus, there is no-where to hide."_

"_What do you want from me?" Callidus asked in a small, broken voice, and the figure laughed cruelly._

"_You can see that I am not complete. In order to destroy the Gods, I need to be complete. That is where you come in. I will give you your revenge, if you agree to do one thing for me."_

"_Anything," came the naïve reply, and the figure nodded once as there was a bright burst of light. The figure was gone, but Callidus remained. _

_He was no longer the same man he once was. No! Now he had the spirit of Chronos inside him, and he was no longer in charge of his own body._

_At this exact time, his sister, the little Cozette, had just made it back to their house, expecting to see her brother. Instead, she saw the empty monster her brother had become._

_She made a promise to herself that fateful day. She made a promise that she would find a way to free her brother, or she would die trying._

_The years passed in lonely solitude, and soon it was her sixteenth birthday. Callidus would have been twenty three, she thought, but pushed it from her mind. She had decided that as soon as she was old enough, she would leave this place she had grown up in, and she would find her brother. _

_It was on that day that she left, never to return to the little hovel she loved. It was on that day that she went to find her brother, and find him she did._

_She looked long and hard, braving storms and the boiling sun alike, but she never gave up, for this was her destiny. And it was on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, a year after she had begun her search, when she found him, all alone and planning his takeover of Mount Olympus._

_He stood and turned to face her, his golden eyes glowing eerily and Cozette tried to free her dear brother of his ghastly body._

"_Calli, I know you are still in there. You must listen to me and fight it."_

_Callidus heard her, but he was too far gone. He tried and tried to free himself of his cruel puppeteer, but to no avail. Just as he was about to give in, he felt Chronos' will crumble. For the briefest instant, his eyes turned blue again, and he whispered, "You must kill me, Cozz. There is no other way."_

_But the six years that Cozette had spent before she came to find him were no spent in vain. She knew that there was a way to destroy Chronos and keep her brother alive, at her own cost. So she took the three fated steps that brought her towards her brother, and then she murmured, "I will always love you, Callidus."_

_She kissed him on the forehead and took her knife from its scabbard as they were surrounded in a golden light. She was transferring Chronos' power from her brother into herself. Before she lost her will completely, she stabbed herself, whereby banishing Chronos until he got the power to rise again._

_On the date June 12 1863, Cozette Malfoy died. Her brother lived a long life, changed his name to Septimus so that no-one would know of his past misdeeds, married a beautiful girl and had one child, a boy named Abraxus. But he never forgot the sacrifice his sister made for him, and on his death bed he is rumoured to have whispered, "I will always love you, Cozette, my dear sister."_

I stopped reading in horror. That story sounded so much like mine and Luke's life, but something seemed to stick in my mind. Cozette and Callidus – Septimus – were Malfoy's. This meant that Callidus was Draco Malfoy's great-granddad. It also meant that Chronos had taken over a body before, and there was two ways to get rid of him.

There was only one way in my mind.

I would take the sacrifice for him.

**I'm sorry that it's quite a boring chapter, but I had writers block. All the same, I hope you enjoyed it. Please keep reading and reviewing. Thanks to all who have so far.**


	20. The second week and a trip to the Burrow

**By the way, for any who are interested, I have started another story called **_**A New Beginning. **_**Here is the synopsis if you want to give it a go:**

_**On the 19th August, a month before Hermione Granger's eleventh birthday, she finds out something that will change her life forever. She finds out that she is a Malfoy, twin to Draco, and her parents plan to send her to the Wizarding School, Hogwarts. Will she be able to break free from the stereotypes that surround her family? Or will she bend to them?**_

**Now for my faithful reviewers…**

**Simplewhiterose – I thought having Hermione having to kill him or herself was a nice twist to the tale, glad you liked it. Having it happen to a Malfoy before was a last minute decision, but I think it worked. Yes that is why Draco is always so hesitant. His family was ripped apart by Chronos, and he does not wish it to happen to Hermione and Luke – you will find out that later on in the story. I never thought about it like that but yes, Draco must be part God – although a very small part. Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

**Tsukiyo Tenshi – I will update as soon as I can, thanks for reviewing.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – I'm glad you are excited to read the sequel, there will definitely be one. Please keep reviewing.**

**xXThe Solaris MaidenXx – I also hate Dudley, but I felt that I had to put him in there somewhere because he is mentioned in the first chapter. Thanks for reviewing.**

**The second week and a trip to the Burrow**

Hermione:

The rest of the first week of the Easter holidays passed quickly and soon it was time for Jase, Harry and me to return to Camp Half-blood. With all that I had learnt, I just wanted to find Luke, but I neglected to mention this to Jase or Harry, and they would have tried to stop me. I knew one thing from this holiday, there was no way I was letting Luke die.

"Jase, have you opened the fireplace?" I shouted down the stairs on the day of my leaving for the Burrow. Jase was coming too, and Harry was supposed to arrive soon so that he could also come. Obviously, nobody else was anywhere near ready, but my trunk was already by the fireplace, ready to go.

I could hear Jase fumbling around upstairs, with Savanna yelling at him to keep it down, and mum shouting at him to be quicker. I wanted to open the fire in case they decided to come through early – not that that was likely – but I was an under-aged Witch and so I couldn't.

At that moment there was a loud knock at the door and I bounded off to open it, ushering Harry into my hectic house.

"This is like the first day back at school," he remarked as Jase came tumbling down the stairs, his trunk falling behind him. I gave a murmur of agreement as the fire was opened by my very tired brother.

We didn't have to wait long before acid-green flames appeared and first Arthur and then George and Ron appeared. All three were grinning like maniacs as Arthur sat down to have a cup of tea.

"We brought floo powder," Ron remarked, giving Harry, George, Jase and me a bit, "We'll see you later, Dad."

"Mmm," was Arthurs only response as his sons took the floo powder and our trunks and yelled, "The Burrow," before vanishing in a puff of green flames. I gave out a small laugh as Arthur rose to examine the cooker, before Harry and I also took our leave.

I arrived to see Molly Weasley smothering Harry in a motherly hug. He was cast aside and forgotten, however, when I appeared and soon I had a clump of red hair in my face as I was also hugged tightly.

"Mum!" Ron complained, pulling on my arm to get his mother to release it. Finally she did, moving into the kitchen and muttering about how kids never respected their elders anymore. Ron rolled his eyes as Harry, Ron and I made our way up to Ron's room, which was as garishly orange as always with Chudley Cannon posters attached to the walls.

"How's your first week gone?" Ron asked me. When I didn't answer and instead turned my attention to Harry, he quickly explained what he had told me on the first day.

"So you've got to kill him?" Ron asked eventually, whistling through his teeth. I decided not to tell them what I had discovered about it either being Luke or me, because they would try to talk me out of it. Instead, I told them a synopsis of the story of Callidus and Cozette Malfoy – changing the ending completely so that Cozette killed Callidus.

"You mean this has happened before?" Harry asked, horror-struck, "And to a Malfoy, no less."

"What do you suggest we do?" I asked, hoping upon hope that they would say we should find Malfoy and confront him about it.

"Definitely find Malfoy," Ron said sharply and Harry nodded emphatically in agreement. I let out a small burst of laughter and asked, "How do you suppose we do that? We can't use magic outside of school."

"There's got to be a way," Ron said quietly, "And, Hermione, you may refuse but I've just had an idea. I want to help you find a way in order to save Castellan's life because he means so much to you. On the day before we go back to Camp Half-blood we could leave here, go out into the world, take a tent with us, and we could search for an answer."

I was so shocked by his proposal that all I could do for a good five minutes was stare at him with my mouth hanging open. Harry seemed equally shocked, if not more so. What surprised me the most, however, was the fact that I was actually considering it.

Just at that moment, Molly shouted up the stairs that lunch was ready. We must have been up there longer than I'd originally thought.

"Just wait until the end of lunch, and then give me your idea."

"I don't need to," I told him; suddenly sure of what I wanted to do. "If Harry's game then I am."

"Why would Harry be game?" Ron asked, his face scrunching up adorably as he thought. Both Harry and I laughed as Harry explained, "It's a muggle expression. It just means if I'm okay with it."

No more was said on the subject as we joined the rest of Ron's family for lunch, but it was on my mind the whole time. As soon as we were excused, we made our way back to the attic room to sort out what we were going to take.

Suddenly I remembered something and I nearly kicked myself for not thinking of it before. I sat on the bed and put my head in my hands. My two male companions joined me, both looking equally confused.

"What's up?"

"We can't leave," I explained but that made them even more confused, so I quickly elaborated, "We can't use magic outside of school."

"Oh I've got that sorted," Ron explained, "I've found this potion that will take the trace off us, and it brews in a week so we will have plenty of time."

"Where is it?" I asked and a large tome was put into my hand. I glanced at Ron in surprise, shocked that he would actually consider reading this size of book. He just shrugged and muttered, "Page 194."

I turned to the required page and saw the words: _Trace Removal. Required ingredients: one unicorn hair; one bicorn wing; two toenails from a hippogriff; mandrake root; sage; one onion; and a trace of veritaserum."_

The method was listed below and I slowly scanned it for a sign that anything was amiss. It seemed highly unlikely that Ron had just found this lying around, but it was the only plan we had, so I didn't question it further. Instead, I murmured, more to myself than to them, "The bicorn wing, sage and onion will be easy to acquire. The unicorn wing and the mandrake root will be expensive, and I have no idea how we will get the hippogriff toenail and the veritaserum – they are both very rare."

"We can attempt to find the veritaserum in Diagon Alley, and if not, we can search Knockturn Alley," Ron said quickly. At our inquiring gazes, he defended himself, "What? I've always wanted to go down there."

"Buckbeak is still at Grimmauld Place. He won't be happy but I'm sure we could get the toenails from him," Harry said, nodding to himself, "We can even take him with us."

"Great idea," I praised, wondering how we were going to get to Diagon Alley and Grimmauld Place without being noticed.

"I need to get some money from Gringotts," Harry whispered, "So we can ask if we can go and we can get these things on our way there. We will have to go to Grimmauld Place once everyone is asleep so that we are not seen. Only Kreature lives there now, and he belongs to me."

I wrinkled my nose at the mention of the house elf, but made no comment.

"Hey," said a voice from the doorway. Ginny was staring at us with a slight smile on her face, "We're going to play Quidditch, want to come?"

Both of my male companions looked like they would want nothing better than to take Ginny up on her offer, but instead Ron murmured, "We were actually planning on going to Diagon Alley."

Immediately Gin looked suspicious, her ears going red from anger. "Why?" she demanded.

I turned to look at Ron and Harry.

"No way," Ron snarled, "She's not coming."

"I may need another girl," I pleaded, and Harry agreed with me.

Gin was slowly filled in on our plan, and she immediately wanted in. We made our way down the stairs to ask Molly and Arthur if we could go to Diagon Alley. She agreed, albeit nervously. She was very protective of her kids.

"Diagon Alley."

Soon all four of us were making our way to the massive Wizards bank. Harry and Ron were in front and I was quickly filling Ginny in on what ingredients were needed.

"We should split up," Harry said quietly as we reached the bank. He gave me a sad smile as I gave a murmur of assent.

"Me and Gin will find the ingredients; you and Ron go and get some money. We'll meet you at Florean Fortescue's Ice-cream parlour in an hour, okay?" I said, "If we don't have enough money, we will wait until we have met up with you."

Without another word, I took Gin's hand and we quickly made our way across the street. As soon as we were out of earshot of the boys, Gin turned to me, "Where can we get the things?"

"The Apothecary," I explained shortly, and Gin followed me as I led the way.

**XxX**

An hour later we made our way to the ice-cream parlour. We had the bicorn wing, mandrake root, sage and onion, but could not find the unicorn hair or veritaserum anywhere. We wanted to try Knockturn Alley, but figured that would be better if we had Harry and Ron with us, so that was where we were heading.

They were already seated when we arrived, but had yet to be served, so we quickly made our way to Knockturn Alley. Ron was extremely exited; apparently he had wanted to come here for years, but Molly had never let him. Harry and Ginny were slightly more sober but also seemed slightly exited. On the other hand, I knew the dangers of this town and knew that the chances were we would be attacked before we made it five miles.

"Where do you think we need to go?" Harry asked after moving past dilapidated shop after dilapidated shop. I roamed my eyes this way and that in order to see a place that may sell the things we needed.

Eventually we passed a shop with different body parts hanging from the ceiling; the creaking sign above the door proclaimed it to be _Monsieur Zeplin's House of Magic. _It was a weird name but, upon entering, I could see a thin, shining unicorn hair attached by a hook to the ceiling. There were shelves with many different potions on them. It seemed we had come to the right place.

Monsieur Zeplin was a balding man, as fat as he was tall, with rotting teeth and gnarled fingernails. I wrinkled my nose slightly at his _odd_ appearance, but said nothing against him as Harry asked for the unicorn hair and veritaserum.

"How much?" Ron asked as they were placed in front of us.

"Your pretty little friend," he said, indicating me. Gin had disappeared around a corner so there could have been no-one else he was referring to.

"What?" Ron asked slowly, deliberately.

"I remember a night two years ago. I' was 'n th' daily prophet. Potter's mudblood wen' the Yule ball wit' Viktor Krum. I' was th' talk o' th' town."

I opened my mouth to ask where this was going, but he carried on talking.

"Dun't think I dun't know o you are, cause I do, an' I will sell t' you I' you give me your precious mudblood."

"I don't think so," Ron stated, placing a protective arm around my back. Zeplin suddenly got an evil look in his eyes as he stared at something past our shoulder. While his attention was diverted, I quickly snatched the bag with our purchases off the desk and whirled around along with Harry and Ron. Ginny appeared around the corner and also stood next to us as we watched three equally ugly, equally old women enter.

"You found anyone yet?" the middle woman asked in a high-pitched, annoying voice. She punctuated it with a laugh but the effect was ruined by the coughing fit she had. I suddenly had an idea.

"Are you alright?" I asked, taking a few steps towards her, while Ron attempted to drag me back. I held onto her until her coughs subsided and then I helped her to stand again.

"You're a pretty one," she murmured, gently moving her hand down my face as her eyes stared into mine, "A little young, but you would still work."

"I'm sorry," I said, still with no idea what they were talking about, "If you let my friends go, you can have me."

That created immediate uproar with Harry, Ron and Ginny, and the woman gave me a toothy smile before speaking.

"You're a brave girl, a very brave girl, to leave yourself with us while your friends go free. Follow me." She nodded once to Zeplin before leading me into the next room while the other two women held Harry, Ron and Ginny in the same position.

As soon as we were out of sight, the woman began to change. Her white hair became golden and lustrous, while her dim eyes became light blue and full of life. She suddenly turned from about eighty to about twenty.

"I'm Lilianna," she told me, holding out her hand, "Take a seat."

"I don't understand," I murmured, taking the offered seat, "Why do you pretend to be old when really you are young and beautiful."

She gave me a degrading smile before launching into her explanation, "It started when I was about your age. My sisters, Rosalina and Katriana, and I went to Hogwarts much like I expect you do. It was only when we were in our seventh year when we found out about our heritage. Our father was Hermes, the messenger God, while our mother was a mere mortal. Only she wasn't. Our mother was Professor Trelawney – though we didn't know it at the time – and she, as I'm sure you're aware, was a seer. It was prophesised once, long ago, that triplets of a God and a seer would become Fate, Hope and Destiny. We can see into the past, present or future. We can make or break lives. We could do whatever we want. Also in the prophecy it was mentioned that there would come a time in our lives when we would have to make a decision that had the power to save or destroy humanity. We felt it a few days ago, that time is now, with you. We were sent to this world to aid you in your quest, to watch over you, to guide you. I believe you know what you must do?"

"I must either kill Luke or myself," I replied without feeling and Lilianna nodded once.

"When the time comes, you will do what is right. The power of a kiss holds great wonders."

I had no idea what she meant by that last statement, but before I could dwell on it further, she was talking again, "Keep this necklace on you at all times and if you need us, squeeze it and think of me." She placed a beautiful silver necklace with a teardrop in the centre in my palm and closed my fingers over it.

"You must re-join your friends; remember what I said."

I followed her out and Harry, Ron and Ginny were exactly where we left them. I followed them slowly out of the shop, turning back once to give Lilianna, Rosalina, and Katriana a small smile.

"What did she want?" Gin asked as we entered Diagon Alley once more. I didn't feel like telling them our whole conversation just yet, so I just murmured, "I'll tell you soon."

Although she didn't look like she wanted to leave it at that, she had to because we had just reached the fireplace.

"Grimmauld Place."

**XxX**

Grimmauld Place was the same as I remembered it, only even more dilapidated, if that was possible. The stuffed house-elf heads on the walls were collected dust, and the picture of Mrs Black behind the curtain was muttering to itself. Kreature was no-where to be seen so the rumours that he had left must have been true.

We started the slow climb up to the top floor, where Buckbeak was held, and slowly opened the door to reveal the hippogriff.

Harry knelt to it, and once he had knelt too, we slowly approached. Harry murmured some soothing words to him while he gently knelt down and, for some odd reason, Buckbeak didn't even seem to notice as one of his toenails was taken. I moved over to the large window and opened it while Harry untied the hippogriff. Without another word, he flew into the night. We probably wouldn't see him ever again. However, there were more pressing matters at hand, like brewing this potion, so that was what we decided to do next.

First, however, we had to actually get back to the Burrow.

**I am aware that the trace removal potion is very unlikely, but I had to find some way for them to travel without an over-aged wizard undetected. Sorry about that. Also, for any of you who may think Lilianna's appearance a little strange, she will be seen again later on. Remember the last thing she said to Hermione – "The power of a kiss holds great wonders." That quote will come up soon.**

**Please read and review**

**Thanks**


	21. Potion making skills at their best

**Artemis7448 – Thanks for reviewing, I liked reading it. Please review more in the future and I hope you like this chapter. This chapter is just a filler chapter and is rather boring so sorry about that, but I hope you like it all the same.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – I was planning on having some of Harry's demi-god powers come to light in the next chapter – 22 – because they will be on the run. If you have any ideas of any good powers, please tell me. I look forward to hearing about them. Thanks for reviewing, please continue to do so.**

**Simplewhiterose – It is a bit like true loves kiss but I thought that sounded a little cliché so I changed it a bit. Cozette and Callidus Malfoy were siblings instead of being in love which is why she kissed him on the forehead instead of the lips. Hermione will either have to kiss Luke to free him of Chronos and to transfer Chronos' power into herself before killing herself – effectively banishing Chronos to the underworld – or she will have to kill Luke. Ron just made a bad decision, but he is going to redeem himself in further chapters. I am going to have him striking up a romance with Thalia instead of Hermione, and Hermione will forgive him for betraying her. I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit boring; it's more of a filler chapter than anything. Thank you for reviewing.**

**Potion making skills at their best**

Hermione:

We arrived back at the Burrow just as Molly was setting the table for dinner. Gin ran to help her while the three of us sat down to hold a quiet conversation.

"We have all of the ingredients," I murmured, "Once we're free of the trace, I can use a spell to make my bag bigger on the inside. We can place all of our things in there. Ron, does your dad have a tent?"

"Yeah," Ron replied quietly, "Perkins gave him the one we used for the World Cup. It's in the garage."

"Can we take it just as the potion finishes brewing? That way Arthur won't notice until it is too late."

"What else do we need to take?" Harry asked.

"Only one spare change of clothes because we can use magic to wash them, and otherwise we will have too much stuff. We need some books, but I will sort them out. In fact, I will sort everything out. All you need to do is make the potion, with Gin's help, of course."

As if he'd suddenly remembered something, Ron leaned forward and said in an even quieter whisper, "Annabeth, Percy and Thalia are coming here later. We mustn't tell them, or all will be lost."

"I agree," Harry muttered just as Molly and Ginny returned, laden down with food. Gin gave us a meaningful glance but could say no more because the rest of her family and Jase sat down around us.

"Where've you lot been all day?" Fred asked around a mouthful of food. I could definitely see when Ron got his awful manners from, "I thought you would want to play Quidditch with us."

"I needed to get some money from Gringotts," Harry explained, giving us a glance to warn us to keep silent, as if we would have said anything anyway.

"And that took four hours?"

I hadn't realised it had been that long, but it seemed that it had.

"We looked around for a bit," Gin interrupted sharply, warning her family to say no more on the matter.

"Hey Mione?" George asked after about five minutes of silence, "Where'd you get that necklace from?"

I touched the pendant Lilianna had given me and gave him my best impersonation of a smile as I quickly thought up a fool proof lie, "I bought it while we were out."

I could see Gin, Harry and Ron giving me suspicious glances but everyone else accepted the lie. I mouthed, "Tell you later," and they nodded, returning to their food.

**XxX**

Dinner was a quick affair and was finished before we knew it. Harry, Ron and Gin followed me up to Ron's room, where they immediately shut the door. They were unable to lock it, however, as we had not finished – or even started – the potion in which to remove the trace.

"Where'd you get the necklace?" Ron asked, pretending to act nonchalant when really I could tell that I had his interest piqued. Gin moved around getting her cauldron and all of our ingredients ready so that we could start as soon as the interrogation had finished; while Harry sat on Ron's bed.

"Remember those three women from Knockturn Alley?" Without waiting for a reply, I continued, "Well, they were Lilianna, Katriana and Rosalina. However, they are more commonly known as fate, destiny and hope…"

I quickly explained everything Lilianna had told me. My companions were silent until I'd finished and it was only then when Ron spoke.

"How do you know she was telling the truth?"

His voice was quiet but held fear and authority that I knew better than to ignore. His mouth was a thin line and his eyebrows were drawn together as he stared at my necklace.

"I just have a feeling…" I began, trailing off as I realised how stupid that sounded. And no-one called Hermione Granger stupid.

"A feeling?" Ron scoffed, obviously thinking the same thing as me, "You have a feeling?"

"How often have I been wrong?" I pleaded, "Just trust me on this."

"We trust you, Mione," Harry spoke up, "We just don't trust them."

"Please," I murmured, standing up and picking up the cauldron while Gin took the ingredients, "I need you to trust me on this."

Harry hesitated but only for a moment before he nodded. Ron seemed slightly less inclined to trust me, but he also nodded, albeit hesitantly. Gin just shrugged and laid all the ingredients out in a line so that we could start.

"Boil twenty seven ml of water until it is barely simmering…" Gin read aloud before stopping in horror.

"How are we supposed to get a fire going in here? It will burn the house down."

I gave a sharp grin, having already thought through this scenario. Without another word I went into Gin's room, where I was staying, and brought my cauldron back into Ron's room. I then went into the garden and picked up some twigs; thankful that I didn't meet any red-headed Weasley children who would question what I needed it for. I then placed the wood into my cauldron and removed a lighter from my pocket; lighting the wood as I did so. I hurriedly placed Gin's cauldron on my own to contain the flames. **(A/N: I know this is a bit unbelievable but I couldn't think of anything better. Sorry.)**

"Done," I said finally, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Harry was grinning smugly at the befuddled expressions on the two youngest Weasley's faces.

"What the hell is that?" Ron demanded, pointing at the lighter. Harry burst into laughter, nodding slowly as he replied, "Just something muggle, Ron."

"Gin, will you fetch me the water?"

She did and soon we were reading the next instruction.

"Chop the onion into four exactly equal proportions before placing one carefully into the boiling water. Then pour 48ml of veritaserum into the mixture."

"This is hard," Ron complained as he picked up the onion, holding it between his thumb and fore-finger.

"It's a potion," I snapped back, "It's not supposed to be easy."

He pouted but said no more as I chopped and weighed the onion. Finally sure that it was correct, I placed one piece into the water before adding the veritaserum.

"Add another piece of onion, stir seven times counter-clockwise and once clockwise. Repeat this action five times," Gin read, her voice loud in the silence that had fallen around us.

Harry placed the onion while I completed the other instruction, nodding for Gin to say the next one.

"Place the sprig of sage into your mixture and add one hippogriff toenail. Now your potion should be a crimson colour."

This instruction was completed as there was a shout from below: Annabeth, Percy and Thalia had arrived.

"I'll stay here," I murmured to the other three, "And I'll complete more of the potion. When you can, come back up and help. Okay?"

All three nodded and left me to it.

**XxX**

Harry:

Harry, Ron and Ginny left Hermione in Ron's room and moved down three flights of stairs until they were in the living room. Annabeth was chatting politely to Percy Weasley about the best way to build a house: it sounded boring but both seemed extremely interested. Percy Jackson was being fussed over by Molly; apparently he was too skinny. Thalia, however, was standing by herself, trying to look like she belonged but failing.

Harry watched silently as Ron moved over to her and engaged her in conversation. His face had brightened as soon as he'd seen her and now he appeared to see no-one else, his eyes fixed on her face. There was no doubt about it. Ron Weasley liked Thalia Grace.

"Is it just me or do you see that too?" Ginny asked quietly in Harry's ear, indicating Ron and Thalia. Harry murmured his assent as Molly turned to usher the three new arrivals into the kitchen where she was going to make them a late lunch.

Without further ado, Ron, Ginny and Harry made their way back upstairs.

**XxX**

A week later:

Hermione:

"It's finished," I stage-whispered at my three best friends, pulling our, now complete, potion out from under Ron's bed and quickly pouring it into four cups.

I took a deep breath before raising the cup to my lips and drinking, almost gagging at the disgusting stench. Harry, then Ron and Ginny, followed suit, three cups smashing to the ground as they dropped them.

I took a quick swig of water and passed it to the other three, before taking my wand and mending the cups, hoping that none of the Weasley's, nor Jase, Annabeth, Percy or Thalia had heard the racket they had made.

It appeared that none had because all was silent.

"We're supposed to go back to Camp Half-blood tomorrow," Ron murmured morosely, most likely thinking about Thalia, whom he had become very close to now that she was staying at his house.

"Then we will leave tonight," I murmured, "

**I am going to have some of Harry's demi-god powers come to light in the next chapter but I have no idea what to give him. Can any of you think of anything? If you can, please tell me in a review and I will try and include it.**

**If anyone has any ideas of how I can make this story better, please tell me.**

**And most of all, please review.**


	22. We kill her

**Simplewhiterose – I'm glad you liked the chapter. I changed my mind because I wanted a cliff-hanger, but I will put your ideas for Harry's powers in the next chapter. Sorry. I love Harry being able to control people because of the water in their bodies; it's awesome.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – I like having Harry talking to fish and horses; it will make it more interesting. Thanks for the idea. And the mini earth quakes was brilliant, he will have a hard time controlling his powers. It's not in this chapter, though, because I wanted it to end on a cliff-hanger, sorry. Thanks for reviewing; hope you like this chapter.**

**We kill her**

Luke:

We were all waiting, watching the small house called the Burrow as Mrs Weasley bustled around outside, feeding the chickens and other such servants work. It wasn't her we were waiting for, however.

No, we were waiting for the time when Hermione, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Ginny Weasley stepped outside and left the Burrow for good.

The necklace that had been given to Hermione by Lilianna Trelawney was actually a one-way spying device in the form of a mirror. Through it we could see whatever she was thinking and whatever they were planning. That was how we knew of their latest plan.

Everything Lilianna had told Hermione about her and her sisters had been true, but for the right price, anyone will do anything you wish. It had only taken a little persuasion for Lilianna to hand over the twin necklace so that we could use it.

If I was honest with myself, I did feel a little guilty about betraying her like this, but she had already thought I was working for the Dark Lord long before I actually had. It was the reason she broke up with me.

I still loved her; that would never fade, but now what used to be solid pain had receded to a dull ache. The whispering voice in my head kept telling me that she had betrayed me, that she wasn't worth it, and I believed him.

She had stomped on my heart, and the heart is a fragile thing.

I would harden myself to her and never let her honeyed words register in my brain again. She was dead to me.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I was waiting patiently in Ginny's room. The covers of the bed were drawn up to my chin as my brown eyes pondered all the things that had happened since that fateful day when I had broken up with Luke.

My life was such a mess.

I could hear Gin's steady breathing, signalling that she had fallen asleep, but I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to.

I heard Mr and Mrs Weasley make their way to bed but still I waited another whole hour before tiptoeing over to Gin's bed and shaking her awake.

"Is it time?" she whispered blearily as I took my beaded handbag and placed our wands in it before putting it in my shoe. This was just a precaution in case we were captured.

I didn't deign to answer her and instead moved like a ghost into Ron's room, waking him and Harry in the process.

"Is it time?" Harry reiterated Gin's earlier words and I nodded, leading the way down the stairs and out of the front door.

Both Ron and Gin seemed abnormally sober as we left their childhood home for what could very well be the last time. Before anyone could change their minds, I grabbed their arms and Harry took Ginny's free one and we dissaparated to a forest in northern Scotland.

"Set up the tent," I ordered, leaving Harry in charge of the other three while I set up wards that would keep us hidden from curious eyes. It felt good to be able to do magic outside of Hogwarts; we hadn't even been able to do it at Camp Half-blood.

"Done," came Harry's soft voice and I turned to see that they had, in fact, finished and Ron had already vanished inside.

"Do we have any leads?" I asked as we made our way inside. Whereas I had been bone-tired earlier, now I wasn't tired at all. Harry and Gin felt the same way so we sat at the table while Ron slept fitfully.

"Well, I was thinking that, because you found that book about Callidus and Cozette Malfoy, maybe we could find more information at a Wizarding library. However, there are only two famous Wizarding libraries in the UK," Harry explained and Gin took over.

"So we thought we might check there before coming up with our next move."

"Good," I mused, "You've thought hard about this, "It won't hurt to try. Remember, though, that we only have until the end of the year in order to find something. The war will be then."

"We know," Gin murmured, "And we will find something, or die trying."

"That's a bit morbid," I muttered.

It appeared that we had been talking for longer than I'd thought because the sun was just peeking over the horizon.

"I'll find us something to eat," I whispered so as not to wake Ron, quickly grabbing my wand and leaving in search of a stream where we could get some fish.

I was back half an hour later with two small fish – it was the most I could find in so short a time, but no-one seemed to mind. I had packed some biscuits so we had that with the fish before packing up and apparating to the nearest library in Liverpool.

It was large and imposing, with a glass roof and walls. It appeared to be a lot like the Leaky Cauldron in that the muggles couldn't see it as they just strode past the beautiful building.

"Ooh," I whispered, grinning from ear to ear while my friends laughed, "I've always wanted to come here."

**XxX**

The Weasleys:

"Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, breakfast," Mrs Weasley shouted brokenly up the stairs, frowning slightly when she got not reply. "Fred, would you go and fetch them please."

Fred – or maybe it was George – nodded slightly before hurrying up the stairs, confusion evident on his face. They were _never _the last down stairs, especially with Hermione there – she was never one for a lie-in.

"Oi, ickle Ronnikins, it's time to get up," he yelled through the closed door. When he got no reply, he opened it and saw, to his horror, two empty beds with the covers pulled back. This proved that Ron and Harry were up. He went to his youngest sibling's room and, as expected, the two beds in here were also empty.

Fred – I'm still not sure whether it was him or George – had his suspicions of where they could be and quickly made his way to the garage to search for Perkins' tent. It wasn't there.

He moved back into the kitchen and said two words.

"They're gone."

**XxX**

Luke:

"They are at a Wizarding library in Liverpool," Bellatrix informed the Dark Lord and myself from her position kneeling on the floor. Her nephew, Draco, was standing behind me while the rest of the Death Eaters, including Vincent, Greg, Pansy and Blaise, were standing around the corners of the room. I caught Lucius Malfoy's eye and raised my eyebrow at the proud look on his face. He coloured slightly and turned back to his sister-in-law, who was just standing up.

"Brilliant," the Dark Lord mused, turning slightly to face me whilst holding his hand out to Bellatrix. Without another word, the mirror was placed into it and he held it out to me, asking quietly, "What do you see?"

_Harry Potter, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Hermione were staring at a massive building made almost entirely of glass. I couldn't see Hermione as the necklace was on her neck and therefore I could only see what she was seeing. The youngest male Weasley was speaking, his voice sounding scratchy in_ _the device._

"_Is this it, Harry?"_

"_Yeah. We need to try and see if there are any more cases like Callidus and Cozette Malfoy."_

_Behind me I felt Draco jolt slightly at the surname and I couldn't blame him. But who were Callidus and Cozette? What did they have to do with the four sixteen-year-olds?_

"_There's no point just staring at it," Hermione said decisively, leading the way into the building. _

_Books covered every available surface, rising up as far as the eye could see and then some. In one corner was a seating area, with comfy, leather armchairs and glass coffee tables._

"_What should we search for?" Ginny Weasley asked, staring around with a slight expression of distaste. No-one answered her, however, as Hermione had moved over to the books and was gently running her hand along the spines._

_She turned back to her companions and began to issue instructions._

"_Gin – you and I are going to look up the Malfoy family. Harry and Ron – you two can find out all you can on demi-gods. Okay? Let's go."_

**XxX**

Hermione:

"Why the Malfoy family?" Gin asked in confusion as we moved through the entrance hall and into the next room. This one was all about mythology.

"Because Callidus and Cozette were Malfoy's," I replied cryptically.

We searched every room and there was nothing about pure-blooded families. Just as we were about to give up, Gin leaned back onto a bracket in the wall. With the sound of stone grinding on stone, an archway appeared, leading into darkness.

"Come on," I murmured curiously, "Let's go."

We moved almost-silently into the creepy tunnel; me in the lead and Gin following. After about five minutes, Gin stopped, her eyes wide.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"No," I replied, "You can go back if you want, I won't stop you. You've got to understand, however, that I have to do this."

I turned to her, pleading with my eyes for her to follow me and, after a few moments, she nodded and we continued on our way.

We emerged into a massive chamber filled from floor to ceiling with books of all shapes and sizes. The bookcases were black ebony and shiny, while the tomes were old and crinkly. It smelled of ancient books and in one corner were two armchairs with a thick layer of dust covering them. It was clear that no-one had been there in years.

"What is this place?" I breathed, moving to the right hand wall, where I picked up a random book. It appeared that some-one high above had been listening to our prayers for finding something about ancient pure-blooded families because this book was called _The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. _

I grinned with curiosity before the book was plucked from my fingers and placed back on the shelf after Gin had read the title.

"There must be something about Malfoy's here; they're a very powerful and influential family."

"You're right," I murmured, moving to the opposite wall. The books along here were T – Z so I moved to the wall to the side and moved along it until I came to the right place. There was only one book about the Malfoy's so I took that and instructed Gin to read the one about Sirius' family.

I opened it to the contents and stopped in surprise. There, written for all to see, on the very first line, were the two names I had been searching for. The first page was the story I had already read, so I didn't bother again, but the next page held some interesting information.

"Hey Gin, come over here," I shouted and she did so, albeit reluctantly.

I began to read aloud.

"_The case of Cozette and Callidus Malfoy is one that historians have been researching even now, centuries after their death. There has only been one other reported case of Chronos taking a demi-god soul and twisting it for his own ends. _

_Whereas Cozette took her life for her brother, the case of Andrew and Coleen Figg is another one entirely. This one took place two hundred years before Cozette and Callidus._

_Coleen was a selfish, rich kid, daughter of Sebastian Brace and Arabella Hound, while Andrew Figg was the opposite. Even so, these two found love where everyone said they wouldn't be able to. It was on the night that they were going to elope when a figure appeared to Andrew. He warned him of the consequences of his actions and said that he could help him. Andrew blindly agreed and didn't meet his one true love, who, naturally, was heartbroken._

_As with the case of Cozette and Callidus, Coleen searched for Andrew but she didn't like what she found. Where before there had been a sweet boy, now was only a cold-blooded murderer. Chronos had visited him that night and entered his mortal body. Uncommon to popular belief, Andrew was a demi-god and that was the only reason he survived the process. Instead of taking the selfless option, Coleen believed that she could find true love anywhere, and so she took the first option and killed him instead of herself._

_Needless to say, she was wrong."_

**XxX**

Luke:

We all stopped listening and I gave the mirror back to the Dark Lord. Everyone was silent for a moment before Lucius Malfoy spoke up.

"So the mudblood girl is the only one who is able to stop our plans if she either kills the mortal's body or her own?"

"Don't call her that," the Dark Lord hissed, "She is even worse than that. She is a half-breed."

The mortal part of my brain protested to that word, but the sinister voice in my mind told me not to do anything, so I didn't. I always obeyed that voice.

"What do we do?" Draco asked, his voice holding a hint of fear, but it was gone the moment Voldemort's eyes turned to him.

"We kill her."

**Sorry cliff-hanger people.**

**Please read and review or it will take longer for me to update.**

**Thanks**


	23. Defiance

**Percyjacksonfan135 – I'm glad you liked it, please keep reviewing.**

**Simplewhiterose – Thank you for reviewing. I think the next chapter will be the second to last. The necklace thing was spontaneous, but I'm glad you liked it. I will update as soon as I can but it may not be until next Thursday because I have an exam on Wednesday. I hope you like this chapter, even if it is slightly short.**

**Defiance**

Hermione:

"There's no point in us going to the other Wizarding library in Oxford, is there?" Ron whined as we set up camp for the second time.

"No," I replied, to his utter relief, "We have found out all that we need to."

We were silent for a moment as I thought over all that we had learnt, but one word stuck in my mind. A surname actually. _Figg; _it seemed so familiar. But where could I have heard it from.

Suddenly it struck me and I had a vision of a courtroom with a spindly, old woman sitting on a hard, wooden chair. Mrs Arabella Figg was Harry's neighbour and as such, that would be our next destination.

"Harry," I murmured, "Mrs Figg, we need to talk to her."

"I was thinking the same thing," Harry muttered back.

"I'll take first watch; you look like you could use the sleep," I told them, moving out of the tent before they could protest.

The first hour was silent but unexpectedly I heard a familiar voice to my right. "Put on a disillusionment charm."

Not even thinking of the dangers, I did as bid and followed the voice out of the confines of our camp.

"Take off the necklace."

My hand instinctively went to my necklace as I unclasped it and placed it, face down, on the grass.

"Good."

A figure shimmered into existence in front of me and, upon seeing who it was, I got rid of the charm, smiling slightly at the Slytherin.

"I cannot stay for long," he whispered, "But you must get rid of that necklace." He proceeded to explain everything to me, and then he handed me a long, wickedly-curved knife. I took a deep breath before plunging it into my beautiful necklace, wincing as I did so.

"Thanks…Draco," I murmured, "And if you ever need a place to stay, you will be able to find me."

"Thanks Hermione," he replied, my name slipping off his tongue smoother than his had slipped off mine.

"Why did you help?" I asked as we made our way into the confines of the protective barriers.

"You're the only one who can stop the Dark Lord from taking over, and he knows this. He wanted to kill you."

"Well, whatever the reason," I grinned ruefully, "Thank you."

**XxX**

Luke:

The Dark Lord had the mirror out again, and was muttering quietly to himself as he looked at the image within. His Death Eaters were around us, all watching him attentively. Draco appeared from around the corner, but no-one but me noticed. I thought it slightly suspicious that he had arrived late, but shook it from my mind and watched as Voldemort thrust the mirror into my hands with a short order.

"What do you see?"

I lowered my eyes to the smooth glass to see…nothing. Instead of a picture of what Hermione was seeing, the screen was black; pitch black.

"Nothing, my Lord," I murmured, wondering what could be the meaning of this but, just as I was about to ask Voldemort what was happening, the voice was back in my head.

_We have been betrayed._

"Who?" I asked, not caring that I looked like a lunatic.

_I do not know…_

"We have a traitor in our midst?"

"Who?" Voldemort demanded eagerly, just as I had moments earlier. I repeated the same words I had been told.

"I do not know."

**XxX**

Hermione:

"So we're here?" Ron asked distastefully as we stopped outside a small house in Little Hangleton, across the road from Harry's Aunt and Uncle's house.

"We should knock," I murmured, making no move to do so. With a sigh, Harry did as requested and soon a tiny, spindly woman opened it. She had cats roaming over every surface of the house as she invited us in and set about making tea.

"Harry," she greeted warmly when she came back in, "What can I do to help you?"

"We were wondering," I murmured, glancing at the others for support, "If you knew anything about Andrew Figg. I believe he was your ancestor."

Immediately her posture stiffened and her face became devoid of emotions, "I don't know why you want to know."

"Please Mrs Figg," Harry pleaded, leaning forward, "We know he was a demi-god; me and Hermione are as well. We also know that Chronos entered his body and his one true love, Coleen, killed him. We need to know if there is any other way to break the curse because Hermione's ex-boyfriend, Luke, has been possessed."

"Which one of you is Hermione?" she asked rather rudely, her eyes flicking from Gin to me and back.

"I am," I replied and she appraised me for a moment before saying clearly, "You're pretty."

Unsure of how to answer that, I muttered a quick thanks before Mrs Figg dove into the business at hand.

"There is only one other way to break it."

My heart fell; I already knew this but, upon seeing my friends' elated faces, I had neglected to tell them. Of course, that was deliberate, but I couldn't tell them that.

"Hermione must kiss him and then kill herself."

I stood abruptly. What right had this old woman to tell us what we already knew/

"Come on," I snapped, "I believe we've outstayed our welcome."

"And I believe there is something you're not telling them," Figg murmured, her wrinkly eyes on mine. "You knew, didn't you?"

"Fine," I snarled, "I knew, okay? But…"

However, I was interrupted by an outraged voice, "You knew?"

I turned my face to my companions and raised an eyebrow derisively. This seemed to be what they expected me to do but was hoping I wouldn't.

"You were going to do that, weren't you?"

"I…" I broke off, unable to deny it. "Fine, yes I was, and you can't stop me."

"Watch us," Gin snarled, reaching for me, but I was already gone.

**XxX**

I apparated to an almost empty street in the tiny village I had lived in most of my life. Of course, I wasn't going home, that would be stupid. I was going to stay with a friend who I hoped would take me.

I quickly transfigured my robes into something a little less conspicuous and strolled down Long Street, hurrying my pace as I heard a car coming. There was no way they would think to check in Tathall End, Hanslope. It was so off the beaten track it wasn't even on maps.

I came to a large, wooden door and rapped sharply, hoping that she was home alone. As it so happened she was, and I was quickly admitted into the snug.

"What can I help you with?" Molly McNeela asked as we sat down on the squashy armchairs, "I haven't seen you for years."

"I know and I'm sorry for that," I apologised, "But I need a place to stay."

I explained my predicament, including everything about Hogwarts but not about Luke, and she just nodded along.

"I guessed as much," she murmured, "I just didn't think that magic was actually real when I grew up."

She didn't question it too much, for which I was thankful, and, surprisingly, gave me a place to stay without alerting her parents.

"Thanks," I murmured as she showed me into the dilapidated barn down the road. It used to belong to Mr and Mrs Ketterfield, but they had left twenty years ago and it had been empty ever since. There was a leak in the roof and there was no way to make any food, or even a bed, but it would do for my purposes. There was also a fireplace in the corner.

As soon as I was alone, I took out my wand and quickly sent a patronus. That done, I lay down on some soggy straw and attempted to sleep.

**XxX**

Draco:

Even though it was only eight or so, Draco was trying to sleep. The keyword in that sentence being trying. He wasn't really having much luck and eventually gave up. He grabbed a book and was just about to settle down and read it, when he saw it. A beautiful, silver otter burst into his room from the wall and began to talk in a voice he definitely recognised.

"_Draco, can you please take the floo to Ketterfield House."_

Without even thinking about it, Draco grabbed his wand and followed Hermione's instructions.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I had been just about to drop off to sleep when the fireplace flared a fiery green and out stumbled a certain Slytherin. I couldn't stop a brilliant smile from curling the corners of my lips and I jumped up and practically flew over to him.

"Thank you for coming."

"No problem Mione," he slurred, and I felt slightly guilty. He had obviously been trying to sleep. I threw it from my mind, however, and asked the question I had been dying to.

"Would you mind flooing me the instant Voldemort and Luke plan to attack the Empire State Building?"

I had to hand it to him. He didn't even flinch when I mentioned Voldemort's name, as most other people would have.

"Sure," he replied immediately and was gone the next second.

**XxX**

Luke:

"It's now April," Voldemort whispered to his followers, his lip-less lips moving almost soundlessly, "We are ready. We attack at dawn."

With many cackles, they dispersed, leaving me alone with the Dark Lord.

"What do you think, my Lord?" he asked me and I cocked my head to one side in a silent question. "Are we ready?"

"We have been ready for weeks," I replied silkily, "What's one more day? They won't know what's hit them as we strike, and they will finally know what it means to defy us."


	24. The Beginning of the End

**READ THE AUTHOR NOTE:**

**AT THE REQUEST OF ONE OF MY REVIEWERS, I HAVE DECIDED THAT, INSTEAD OF HAVING HARRY AS A ROMAN DEMIGOD, HE IS NOW A GREEK DEMIGOD. THANKS.**

**Simplewhiterose – Thank you for reviewing. I'm a massive Dramione fan, but this story isn't Dramione so they won't have a kiss or anything, sorry if that is what you wanted. I do write Dramione, though, if you want to check it out. I'm so sorry that there is only one more chapter after this, but I am going to make a sequel. If you can think of a name for it, could you please tell me? Thanks.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – I'm sorry I haven't put any powers in yet, but this chapter has Harry controlling Wormtail; hope you like it. If you have any ideas of what I can call the sequel, please tell me.**

**Here is my idea for the plot to the sequel:**

**Most of Voldemort's Horcruxes have been destroyed, but now he has taken over the Ministry and has put a price on the heads of all half-breeds, specifically Demi-gods. The Gods owe their whole livelihood to their children and now they have to give them one wish. What will it be? Luke is tempted to give himself up to the Ministry, but a conversation with his dead girlfriend stalls his hand. Will everything work out? Or will they forever live in fear of the Dark Wizard.**

**The Beginning of the End**

Hermione:

I was just getting up when the fireplace flared a brilliant green. Within an instant my wand was pointed at the figure that had appeared, my eyes narrowing instinctively. Then I remembered something I had done to the fireplace last night, and lowered my wand.

"Whoa," Draco complained, raising his hands defensively, "It's only me."

I grinned at him, but none touched his face.

"What is it?"

"You couldn't have been sure it was me."

I frowned in annoyance, "Do you think I'm an idiot."

"No, but…"

"I put a spell on it so that no-one but you could have entered."

"Ah."

"No, what is it?" I asked, sitting on the disgusting straw and patting the place beside me. He scowled slightly but I just shrugged helplessly and he took the seat indicated without much complaint.

"The Dark Lord has decided that they will attack tomorrow." His voice was quiet but authoritative and I involuntarily shivered, my eyebrows knitting together. This was not good news. However, I didn't voice my concerns and instead nodded silently.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Yes," I murmured, turning from him, steeling myself. "Thank you for telling me. If there is a change of plan, will you alert me?"

"Of course," he muttered, recognising that I was dismissing him. Before he left, however, he turned back and said clearly, "I know what you have to do."

"What…?" I began, completely stunned.

"Cozette and Callidus were my ancestors," he told me, giving me a brief smile. I nodded, suddenly remembering, and gave him a sad grin.

"You're not going to stop me?"

"You have to do what you have to do."

Those were the last words he said before he left, a devastatingly sad smile on his face. The next time we met, we'd be on different sides of a war that could either make or break all that I held dear.

**XxX**

Harry:

"She's been gone for too long," Harry whispered, distraught. He hadn't thought that his best friend would actually go through with her plan, and there was no way they could stop her because they didn't know where she was.

"And we have no idea where she would go?" Ron asked for the umpteenth time, eliciting a low growl of annoyance from Ginny.

"You know we don't," she snarled, banging her head on the table.

Once Hermione had done her disappearing act on them, they had quickly found a forest somewhere in Wales, and had proceeded to put their tent up and set up the wards. Now they were sitting down around the table, bouncing ideas off each other, to no avail.

Finally, Harry murmured the words that had been on all of their minds, "We should tell Camp Half-blood. Voldemort will attack soon…"

He didn't get to say anything else as there was a loud crack outside their tent and a beam of red light shot through the opening to the tent, narrowly missing Ginny's head.

"Come out with yer hands up," a rough but familiar voice ordered authoritatively. Harry shared a glance with his companions before they all conceded to the orders.

"His name was a taboo," Ginny whispered to him as they took in the five men before them.

They were all dressed from head to toe in black material that floated eerily around their ankles, and all bar the leader wore masks. It was Fenrir Greyback.

Harry glanced around, unable to see any escape. Their wands were taken from them and handed to an unknown snatcher, who grinned evilly at the trio.

"We're headed to Malfoy Manor," Greyback snarled to his companions as they were apparated in front of the large, forbidding mansion. They were tied to two other people.

"Harry," a familiar voice murmured in his ear.

"Dean?" Harry whispered back, "Is that you?"

"Yeah, and we've got Griphook here."

"Shut it," Greyback's second in command, Scabior, snarled at them while Greyback spoke to the gate that separated them from the Manor.

It opened slowly and they were shoved up the large, eerie drive and into the house. It was even more frightening than Grimmauld Place, which was pretty scary. Dark objects lined the stairs as they were pushed deeper into the house.

They were taken to the dungeons and pushed unceremoniously before the door was locked behind them. There was a rustling in the corner and a skeletal-thin hand appeared out of the gloom. Not having been expecting it, the four humans and one goblin jerked back in surprise as the shrivelled face of Mr Ollivander came into view.

"Mr Ollivander," Harry breathed as they surveyed the missing wand maker, "Are you in here alone?"

"No," a different voice said dreamily, "I'm here."

"Luna," Harry cried, launching himself at the fifteen-year-old, who grinned vaguely back at him.

Ron, Ginny and Dean all had identical expressions of confusion on their faces before Ginny gasped in realisation.

"The girl you've been going out with; it's Luna."

Harry flushed in embarrassment and nodded his head, refusing to look at them. When Ginny squealed and crushed him in an embrace, he allowed himself to relax and grinned delicately.

"Now, onto more pressing matters," Dean interrupted harshly, "How are we going to get out?"

Everyone except for Luna looked stumped, and she was staring off into space. As Ron opened his mouth to spout some nonsense, she spoke.

"Use your powers, Harry."

"My powers?" Harry looked utterly confused.

"Your demi-god powers. Your father is Poseidon, so you should have some control over water."

"I'm sorry Luna," Gin said condescendingly, with slightly raised eyebrows, "But in case you haven't noticed there isn't a lot of water down here."

"The body is mostly made of water," said the slightly insane girl.

"What?" Ron demanded, but Harry rolled his eyes, "She means that I may be able to control people using the water inside them."

"You'd need to practice," Gin whispered, and so they did.

**XxX**

Percy:

Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and everyone else at Camp Half-blood were getting increasingly scared. During the Easter holidays, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had gone missing and no-one knew where they were. McGonagall and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix had looked everywhere, to no avail; they couldn't find them anywhere, though that didn't mean they had stopped looking.

Everywhere they looked, adults would be in quiet conversation, breaking off as soon as someone younger came closer to them.

It was beginning to get ridiculous, though no-one would say that, Also, the war was looming on the horizon and everyone could feel it. Either they would prevail or they would fail; they could not have it both ways.

**XxX**

Harry:

"Dammit," Harry snarled furiously after the (what felt like) millionth time of trying. "It's no use; I can't do it."

Before they could say any more, the door burst open and Wormtail stood framed in the light. He glanced fearfully at them all before hobbling over to Luna and grabbing her arm, beginning to pull her towards the door.

Although he would have never realised it, this was just the trigger Harry needed to unleash his powers. With a furious roar, his eyes flickered silver for the briefest instant before turning back to their usual emerald-green. At first it seemed like nothing was happening but then Wormtail began to shake, his face rippling at the water within came to the surface. His eyes became glassy and water began to leak from them although he wasn't crying. He seemed to be trying to push off Harry's influence but he was took weak and he quickly let go of Luna, moving almost robotically to the wall and handing his wand to Harry without a word of protest.

Harry's powers were still roaring ferociously inside of him and, with an almighty crash, pure, clean water began to pour through every available crack. It was truly a sight to behold, and Harry wasted no time in grabbing Luna and Ginny's hand and pulling them into the deluge. Ginny grabbed onto her brother, who grabbed Dean, who grabbed Ollivander, who grabbed Griphook, and soon they were all on their way out of Malfoy Manor and into the unknown world outside.

The water disappeared as soon as it had come and the two women, four men and one goblin were so spent that they couldn't even rise to their feet.

"Potter?" a startled voice registered in Harry's mind and his head snapped up to see Draco Malfoy standing before them. He didn't even bother to ask how Malfoy had found them, and instead took the outstretched hand and allowed his arch-enemy (aside from Voldemort) to pull him to his feet.

"Voldemort will attack the Empire State Building tomorrow morning at precisely ten o'clock. Hermione already knows this because she wished for me to tell her. You know what she is planning and I know you will not allow it. I know you do not like me, Potter, and frankly the feeling is entirely mutual, but listen to me and you could save her life. Save her soul."

Without another word, he disappeared into the gathering dusk…

**XxX**

THE NEXT MORNING

**XxX**

"It's time," I murmured to myself as I rose to face the day, ready to do what I had to do in order to save Luke's life.

**XxX**

Harry:

"It's time," Harry told his six companions as they approached the Empire State Building, ready to face almost certain death.

**XxX**

Percy:

"It's time," Percy whispered to Annabeth and Thalia as they laid in wait at exactly ten o'clock. They knew the fight would be today, and soon they would set off. They had to win this fight, or their entire livelihood would be destroyed

**XxX**

Luke:

"It's time," The Dark Lord hissed, his red tongue sliding eerily out of his mouth as his turned to his Death Eaters, "And we are going to win."

**There it is, people, the next chapter, and I'm sad to say there is only going to be one more chapter in this story, which will be the fight. There will be no epilogue because I am going to write a sequel. If anyone has any idea of what it could be called please tell me because I have no idea, but look out for it anyone.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**


	25. The Coming of Dawn

**Simplewhiterose – I took one of your ideas and made it into a chapter title, and I will use Casting Shadows as the name of my next story. Thanks for the ideas. I'm sad to say that this is the last chapter, but I will post the first chapter of the sequel on this story, so I hope you like it. Thanks for reviewing.**

**Percyjacksonfan135 – Thanks for reviewing and the sequel will be posted soon.**

**READ THE AUTHOR NOTE…**

**Author's note: I can't believe it's actually here. I'm sad to say that this is the finale, but the first chapter of the sequel will be posted soon. It will be called CASTING SHADOWS thanks to the suggestion from Simplewhiterose. Hope you all like it.**

**The Coming of Dawn**

Hermione:

My heart was pounding in my chest as I watched the action slowly unfold before me. First of all came Voldemort, Luke – sorry, Chronos – and their minions, including Draco who, if he had been any more obvious, would have been found out as a traitor. They stood silently, watching the Empire State Building, with sardonic smiles curling most lips as they murmured amongst themselves.

"Will the giants keep the Gods busy for long enough?"

That came from Draco, his voice strangely loud, as if he knew I was listening, which he probably did. That was confirmed when his eyes briefly flickered in my direction before moving away again. I mean, could this boy be any more obvious?

"Of course," was the snapped response from the Dark Lord as they began to move as one, heading for the doors. They were stopped, however, as out of the gathering clouds in the sky flew many chariots and even a Pegasus or two. To my utter horror I could see Buckbeak – sorry, Witherwings – amongst them, which meant that Harry, Ron and Ginny were here. If they saw me, they would try and stop me and I couldn't allow that.

Percy jumped off his pure black Pegasus and patted its nose lightly before it flew into the night, presumably to get reinforcements. Amongst the Camp Half-blood members and my classmates, I could see members of the Order of the Phoenix, and even some members of the Ministry of Magic.

As McGonagall twirled past, in an intricate dance with a masked Death Eater, I was jolted back to the present and my eyes snapped onto Luke. He was standing in the centre of the melee but nothing was hitting him. I presumed it was due to the wards he had obviously put on himself before entering the battlefield. On his right and slightly behind him stood Lord Voldemort, a sick, twisted smile on his face as he surveyed the dead and the dying. In the same position on his other side stood Draco, and his expression was the complete opposite to his Lords. His eyes were wide and scared, while his hair was plastered to his sweaty forehead.

I wanted to fight with my classmates, and as I saw Lavender fall dead to the ground that feeling became almost unbearable, but I had to keep a level head. If I died before reaching Luke then all was lost. There was no-one else who could do what I could. I had to at least try.

"I will enter Mount Olympus and make it my own," Luke murmured to his two faithful companions, who both nodded sharply, flanking his sides as they made their way to the entrance.

I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of what I would have to do, and I followed them quickly.

**XxX**

Percy:

"Come on," Percy murmured quietly as all the demi-gods who wished to – which was all apart from those in the Ares cabin, by Clarisse's order. Percy leapt silently onto his black Pegasus' back and waited while his companions did the same thing.

"You know where to go, Blackjack."

The horse whinnied before leading the way into the sky as they set off.

This was the beginning of the war. This was the beginning of the end.

**XxX**

Ron:

Unlike most other people, Ron wasn't listening to Percy. Instead, his eyes were focussed on the dark-haired demigod by his side, whose eyes were similarly on him. He mouthed a quick good luck, which she returned, but neither eyes drifted from the other, even as everyone else set off.

With a small bounce in his step, Ron made his way over to her, his heart pounding a mile a minute – an expression he had learned from Hermione. If he was going to die today, then he would tell Thalia how he felt, nothing could stop him.

"Hey," he murmured breathlessly as their friends became mere spots on the horizon, "I wanted to tell you something."

"Same here," she whispered back, "But you go first."

"I…" Suddenly this didn't seem like such a good idea, but he was here now and risking the life of his best friends by not being with them, so he had to make the most of it.

"Thalia, I really like you."

There, that should do it.

She grinned impishly back at him, her mouth forming the words that would either make or break him.

"I like you two."

Grinning widely, he quickly said, "If we survive this, will you go out with me."

"It would be my honour."

With those words, they both took their personal mode of transport and began to move, flying across the clouds next to each other, eyes still on each other's, massive smiles on their faces.

**XxX**

Harry:

Harry jumped unceremoniously from the Pegasus his brother, Percy, had given him. It was called Argentum because of the silver lining of its wings.

"Wait here," he ordered softly and, after receiving the affirmative answer from his horse, he quickly left. He had found that he could speak to, and understand, the Pegasus', and even horses, because his father, Poseidon, had helped to create them.

He took a deep breath as he surveyed the carnage already littering the front of the building. The mortal muggles were all sleeping in their cars pulled onto the sides of the roads.

He could see Luna and Ginny off to one side, fighting for their lives against Bellatrix Lestrange. Even though there was two of them and only one of her, it was clear that they were losing drastically. Lupin quickly jumped into the fray and the three of them beat Bellatrix back. On the other side of the way Percy and Annabeth were back to back, fighting off hoards of monsters that tried to enter the building.

Shaking his eyes away from them, Harry concentrated on his enemies, feeling the familiar hatred burn in his heart as faces flashed before him.

_Tonks_

_Kingsley_

_His parents_

_Sirius_

…

With a furious roar, the water in the sea just visible on the horizon quickly flew up and doused all of them in its furious deluge, and many of the weaker-minded enemies turned to face him, their eyes blank as they waited for his command.

"Kill," he ordered, his voice oddly expressionless, the hatred still burning brightly in them as he searched for a familiar bushy head in the throng.

_There!_

Quick as a flash Harry began to run towards the Empire State Building just as the door slammed shut. Malfoy and Voldemort were waiting outside, and as his eyes caught the youngest Malfoy's he saw something he never thought he would. Fear! Malfoy was scared of what was going on in there, and Harry turned to seek another way into the fearsome building.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I was still shocked that Draco and Voldemort hadn't seen me as I entered after Luke, but I supposed Draco had seen but decided not to say anything. That was the most likely solution.

I followed Luke silently, watching his every move as he took the elevator up to the 600th floor where Mount Olympus resided. As soon as the lift returned, I ascended and was out in a flash once I'd reached the top.

Luke wasn't facing me, he didn't even seem to realise that I was there; he was too busy destroying the chairs of the Gods.

I took a deep breath before coughing slightly to make myself known. He whirled around, his golden eyes narrowing as he saw who it was.

"Luke," I breathed, taking one solitary step forward, but a sword was instantly at my throat, his eyes wide with something akin to fear.

"Luke, I know you're in there. Chronos may have taken your body, but I know you. Fight it, please. For me."

"Foolish child," Chronos sneered in an eerily echoing voice, "Luke is merely a shell, a shell that will be discarded as soon as I am done with him."

I ignored the evil entity in front of me and instead continued to speak to the soul I knew still resided inside. I played my last card; the one I knew would get Luke to break Chronos' control.

"I love you."

My voice was quiet, pleading, and I felt a unfamiliar feeling of dread and hopefulness as his eyes turned blue for a moment.

"You mean it."

Instead of replying, I sidestepped his sword and pressed my lips to his, feeling the power coursing through my body as Chronos entered into me. I had no sword on me so, as Luke was too surprised to do anything, I grabbed his and, without another thought, plunged it into my soft body.

The pain was indescribably and felt like it was ripping into me. I was dimly aware of screaming, the sound loud in the oppressive silence, and I could hear some sort of commotion around me as I collapsed in a heap on the floor. My eyes felt heavy; it was so easy to just give in.

And give in I did.

**XxX**

Luke:

I felt like a veil had been ripped from my eyes as I saw Hermione lying in a puddle at my feet. I was aware of breathing one, horror-filled word.

"No!"

I saw Potter, Weasley, Weaslette, Jason and a few other people I only vaguely recognised enter the room, but my eyes stayed firmly on the dying Witch at my feet and suddenly the truth hit me like a tonne of bricks.

It was my fault she was dead.

I was the reason Hermione had had to do what she did, and I would have to live with that.

I hadn't cried for years, but now I felt the salty tears make their way down my cheeks as I dropped to my knees at her side, cradling her head on my lap.

Hands came under my armpits, attempting to make me stand, but I wouldn't. I was too far gone. One word was reverberating in my mind.

_Dead!_

_Dead!_

_Dead!_

_Dead!_

And it was all my fault.

**There you have it, people. It is finally finished. Hope you all liked it and remember, there will be a sequel, the first chapter of which I will add to this story once I've finished writing it so that you can see if you want to read it.**

**Adios for now and thanks for reading.**


	26. I will never forget

**This is the prologue to my sequel; Casting Shadows. I hope you like it.**

**I will never forget**

Luke:

It had been a total of 365 days since that fateful day that marked the beginning of the end of my life. It had been a year since Hermione had taken her life in exchange for mine. I'm thankful that everyone else had forgiven me for my mistakes because that was the one thing I would never forgive myself for.

Everyone was always telling me to move on, to get over her, but you cannot get over the first person you have ever loved. You never lose the empty feeling in the pit of your stomach that is akin to heartbreak. The pain may fade with time, but it will never truly go away. It will always be there, at the back of your mind, worming its way into your heart until you go mad.

I had taken the wrong road in life, the wrong way to go about things, and they had stuck me in the Wizard's prison, Azkaban. Harry Potter, for some unknown reason, had spoken up in my defence and they had only given me a year there instead of being sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss.

I think I would have preferred the Kiss, at least then I wouldn't have been able to think on my past mistakes. Especially the one that had resulted in Hermione's death.

They were letting me out on the very day of the anniversary of her death, and they were holding a memorial in memory. A memorial I was required to go to. I would have gone anyway; not even the stone walls of Azkaban could have kept me away.

A noise outside my cell door alerted me to an unfamiliar presence. I raised my sunken and defeated eyes to the sympathy-filled ones of the Boy Who Lived, and I felt inexplicable anger. He should hate me, not pity me. It was my fault she was dead. Hermione! My one, true love. As corny as that sounded, it was true. I would love her until my dying day.

Potter entered, his eyes roving my weak figure for a moment before he spoke.

"I don't blame you."

I let out a sardonic laugh, "You should."

"Maybe," he conceded, "But I don't. No, listen," he snapped as I opened my mouth. "I was angry at first; very angry, we all were. The anger faded with time and in its place was a gnawing sense of loss. You went to Azkaban without a fight, which cannot be said about anyone else, and when we found you, you looked so defeated. I knew in that instant that you truly had loved her. I will never forget her, but I know you wont either. That's the reason I stood up for you. It's what she would have wanted."

My head, which had previously been facing the floor, shot up at his words, the meaning echoing in my mind.

"You know the last thing she said to me?" I asked, already knowing the answer. It was confirmed with his sharp shake of the head.

"She told me she loved me. It made me break through Chronos' rule and let her get close enough to do what she had to. If you had been there, would you have stopped her?"

"Yes."

The word was blunt, harsh, and I knew that, in order to save Hermione's life, he would have sacrificed mine.

"I know."

"It's been a year," he said suddenly, changing the subject, "I'm here to escort you to a safe-house and in two hours time we will set off for Hogwarts. There are many people who will hate you for what you did, so you should stay close to me."

I nodded, taking his outstretched hand and allowing him to pull me to my feet. My clothes were tattered and torn from wearing them for a year and I hadn't even been allowed to shower. I expect that I looked a right sight but Harry didn't even wince, his eyes fixed firmly on mine.

**XxX**

The house they took me to was large and hidden from view by some ancient magic put on by Albus Dumbledore himself. Harry called it Grimmauld Place and said that it had once belonged to Sirius Black but now belonged to him.

"The Weasley's, Lupin and Jase are here," he warned me before we went in, "And let's just say that they are not as forgiving as me. Ron and Ginny feel the same as me, but it's Fred and George you should watch out for, and I'm pretty sure that Jase hates your guts."

I nodded once to show that I had heard him, and allowed myself to be pulled in. We met no-one as we made our way to the bedroom right at the top of the house.

It was bare, unnaturally so, and contained only a single bed with white sheets and a tiny chest of drawers in the corner. There was a door to one side leading into a bathroom that contained only a toilet, a sink, a mirror and a shower.

"There are some clothes in the chest of drawers; meet me in an hour."

With those parting words he quickly took his leave. I took a shower, relishing in the warm water covering my skin, and dressed myself in simple jeans and a white t-shirt that, to my displeasure, emphasised the bones that could be seen in my chest. I took a look in the mirror and noticed the sunken cheeks and chapped lips. Even though I was now clean, it would be a long time before I would look okay again. I kind of hoped it never happened because that would be the day I would have to move on.

And I didn't want to move on.

**XxX**

I could hear voices coming from the dining room as I approached, one of them I recognised as Harry's.

"Why did you have to bring him here?" a red-haired, stocky boy, who must have been one of the twins, demanded.

"Now, now Fred, the boy has been through enough as it is," a short, plump, also red-headed woman – who must have been Mrs Weasley – said quietly. "He was obviously distraught over Hermione's death."

"Don't say it," Ron hissed, "Just don't say it."

"It feels like it was only yesterday," Ginny murmured, staring at the table-top. "It feels like it was only yesterday that she…"

"Don't say it!"

"Why?" the youngest Weasley shot back. "It's true, Ron, and nothing you can do will change that. Hermione is gone…and she's never coming back."

She started to sob and no-one, not even Jase, could stop her. In a sudden urge of daring, I moved over to her, ignoring the sharp inhales on breath from the room's other inhabitants.

"Ginny," my voice was quiet, soothing, and she turned tear-stained eyes to look at me. "Hermione may be dead but she will never be gone. She was always be in our hearts," I gently placed my hand over her heart, my eyes searching hers.

"Why do you care?" Jase snarled from her right, "It's your fault she's dead."

"I know," I replied solemnly, my eyes on the ground, "But I care because I loved her with all my heart. I will always love her."

"We have to go," said a tall man standing in the doorway. That must have been Remus Lupin. Silently, everyone followed him into the hallway where we then apparated to Hogwarts.

It looked much the same as it had before, though the world seemed a much sadder place. People were flowing through the school gates to come to her memorial, and every face was sombre.

As soon as the sound of our apparition registered in their minds, heads snapped to our direction and even a few wands were pointed. Without another word, Harry dragged me into the Great Hall.

A picture had been erected on a dais in the middle, Hermione smiling and waving from within. In front of it lay a still figure. She looked like she was sleeping and would wake up any moment with a confused grin on her face. Today she would be placed in a glass case that would then be placed in a secure room in the castle for people to view when they wished. Pictures of her and her friends would be placed on the walls, and they had even asked if one of me could be put there. I had consented.

I took a couple of broken steps forward until I was standing over her, and then I knelt down and took one, frozen hand. I placed the lightest of kisses on her forehead and murmured through the pain clogging my mind, "I will never forget."

**By the way, Hermione will be in the story, she will just enter late.**


End file.
